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Everton 0-1 Arsenal: Mikel Arteta ushered his side back to the top of the Premier League tree on the six-year anniversary of his Arsenal appointment
Richard Jolly at the Hill Dickinson Stadium Sunday 21 December 2025 00:10 GMT- Bookmark
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CloseArteta on their hectic Festive fixture schedule
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A happy Christmas and a happy anniversary for Mikel Arteta? In part, anyway. The Arsenal manager can testify from bitter experience that being the Christmas No 1 is no guarantee he will occupy top spot in May. But, six years to the day since his appointment, Arteta overcame a club he represented for six years.
The importance of a largely forgettable affair may be measured in points, or in Arsenal’s immediate response to being demoted to second, or in the identity of the scorer. Arsenal’s spell off the summit only spanned five hours before they leapfrogged Manchester City. After failing to win any of their previous three away league games, this represented a three-point turn in their fortunes on the road. However, it felt more a test in theory than practice, with Everton both depleted and complicit in their own downfall.
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For Viktor Gyokeres, the presents came from opponents and colleagues alike. A striker who needed a goal got his first in six games and just a second in 11 after two acts of generosity: from Jake O’Brien to concede a penalty, and his teammates to let him take it. While Bukayo Saka has scored two spot-kicks this season, one with the summer signing on the pitch, Arsenal alternate between takers. “There are a few of us that can take it,” shrugged Gyokeres. He was presented with the ball by Martin Odegaard. “They took ownership on the pitch between Martin, Bukayo and him and made a great decision,” said Arteta, a control freak of a manager was happy to let his players choose.
Gyokeres nevertheless has the track record to be the regular. Since joining Sporting CP, he has taken 19 penalties in league matches, whether in Portugal or England, and scored 19.
That made O’Brien’s aberration all the more costly. “We gave away a stupid penalty kick,” said David Moyes, bluntly. O’Brien’s needless handball was more volleyball than football, preventing Riccardo Calafiori from getting a header at goal, but leading to one nonetheless. Gyokeres fired his spot kick into the roof of the net.
open image in galleryJake O’Brien had a moment to forget when he channeled his inner basketballer (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Arsenal had rarely looked like scoring before then. Neither had Everton, with the first quarter of an hour elapsing without either attempting a shot. Gyokeres had glanced a header wide but had been well policed. Yet O’Brien had survived one appeal for a penalty, for a nudge on the Swede, and did not appear to learn his lesson.
Gyokeres was industrious without looking particularly incisive, his 65 minutes on the pitch bringing a booking for kicking the ball away but few indications he will go on a goalscoring burst. Perhaps, though, he will leave Merseyside with momentum.
open image in galleryViktor Gyokeres’ penalty proved the difference but his performance didn’t indicate an imminent goalscoring burst (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Arsenal were largely uninspired before the break but more expansive thereafter. “We have three massive chances to score the second goal,” said Arteta. After Saka had an effort cleared off the line by James Tarkowski, Leandro Trossard bent a shot against the far post and then Martin Zubimendi drilled one at the upright. “You hit the post twice with players that are normally going to put it in the net,” said Arteta.
They were not made to pay. Everton hoped to level in kind, from 12 yards, but, in a match of penalty appeals, William Saliba escaped unpunished for his challenge on Thierno Barry. “We have seen some given when you kick through someone’s foot,” said Moyes, although he admitted he was “not sure” if it was a spot kick.
open image in galleryWilliam Saliba escaped punishment for making contact with Thierno Barry's raised foot in the box (Reuters)Otherwise, however, Everton’s threat was minimal. It was a sign of Everton’s impotence that they went 30 minutes without touching the ball in the Arsenal box during the first half. Moyes praised his players’ attitude but conceded they lacked quality. They were without three of their usual midfield, too, because of either injury or the African Cup of Nations and, in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Iliman Ndiaye, two of their three best creators.
Barry was ineffectual and, as can be the case on such occasions, replaced by Beto. Meanwhile, Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored as many Premier League goals in an evening for Leeds as Everton’s two current strikers have mustered all season.
open image in galleryEverton’s strikers were toothless once again (Reuters)
open image in galleryMeanwhile, former Toffees frontman Dominic Calvert-Lewin bagged a brace for Leeds (Action Images via Reuters)So Arsenal’s clean-sheet kings completed the job with few alarms. They had two-thirds of the ball, attempted 652 passes and finished with an xG nine times higher than Everton’s. Declan Rice, Arteta said, was “unbelievable”. Moyes, who managed the England international at West Ham, called him “probably the best midfield player in the world”. He brought a control some of their rivals lacked.
On a day when one meeting of North London and Merseyside was explosive entertainment, this was a more subdued affair. That suited Arsenal.
And for Arteta, who played his part in many a hard-fought win for Moyes in his Everton years, borrowing from a mentor helped beat him. So, for the third time in four seasons, they are top at Christmas. But, as Arteta knows all too well, Arsenal have not won the league since 2004, since before he joined Everton, let alone Arsenal.
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