Arsenal were tasked with facing Everton less than three full days after taking on Bayern Munich in the Champions League away from home, having also been on the road last Sunday

Mikel Arteta took a swipe at the Premier League and bemoaned Arsenal's 'terrible' schedule following their comfortable 2-0 victory over Everton. The Gunners boss was unhappy with how his side were made to play at 3pm on Saturday after an away tie in the Champions League against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, as well as having gone to Nottingham Forest last Sunday.

Arsenal were back on home soil when they welcomed Everton, with goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes earning them all three points. Arteta made five changes from their 2-2 draw with Bayern, one enforced, and felt compelled to do so because of the Gunners' lack of recovery time.

"We are very happy with the victory, the performance and the week," the Arsenal manager said at his post-match press conference. "We were given a terrible schedule. We have overcome every hurdle and I love the mentality of the team."

Arteta also told Sky Sports: "In Munich, it was one of the most physical games we've played in four years, the shift that we put in was incredible and then we have to play on Saturday at 3pm so we needed those legs, that freshness as well. Players are in good moments and they need minutes. They all did really well."

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The other Premier League team to play an away match in Europe on Wednesday were Manchester United. Their fixture this weekend has been scheduled for 4:30pm on Sunday, a much kinder turnaround.

Unlike Arsenal, United don't have a Carabao Cup tie to play in midweek. The Gunners travel to Fleetwood in the fourth round and could without Riccardo Calafiori due to injury.

"He had a slight issue," Arteta confirmed. "We don't know what it is. It seems very small."

Aside from fitness issues, Arteta had nothing to complain about. After going level with Manchester City at the top of the league, he added: "Really happy. We made five changes. We've had three games in less than six days so we knew how tough it was going to be.

"But I thought the team performed really well. I thought it was really active from the beginning, put a lot of pressure on the opposition.

"We had some problems to finish the actions but we scored from a set piece - the first one this season - and that gave us the confidence and composure to go and dominate the game. But until we scored the second goal, we knew it was game on."