Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton

 Laurent Koscielny celebrates scoring Arsenal's second

Arsenal moved one point clear at the top of the Premier League as Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny's headers overcame Everton. 

After a cagey opening, the Gunners went ahead as Giroud met Mesut Ozil's floated cross with a deft touch.

Koscielny doubled the lead two minutes later from Santi Cazorla's ball in.

Ross Barkley's deflected shot brought Everton back into it, but Romelu Lukaku wasted an excellent, if rare, chance to level as he headed against the bar.

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech denied Gerard Deulofeu late on, but the hosts also had their chances to make the scoreline more comfortable.

Everton's miserable evening was compounded by Gareth Barry's injury-time dismissal as he picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Kieran Gibbs.

Same old Arsenal

Ozil and Giroud were the scorers in Arsenal's Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Tuesday and the two combined brilliantly to break the deadlock after an even opening half hour.

But Arsenal's fourth successive win was secured in more conventional fashion than their third.

While the Gunners were penned back and starved of the ball against the Bavarians in midweek, they enjoyed 57% possession and regularly carved through Everton in an ultimately fruitless search for a third.

Giroud and Ozil both hit the woodwork in the second half, with the latter sparkling with invention in a floating role behind the main striker.

Ozil was ably abetted by Santi Cazorla who roamed upfield from his deep-lying position to prompt and probe as Francis Coquelin held his position behind him in midfield.



Managers's Reaction 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: "At 2-1 we became a bit edgy. We gave a lot on Tuesday night (against Bayern Munich) and I thought it showed in the last 20 minutes. We couldn't score the third goal and Everton had chances - it could have gone both ways.

"When you win such a big game like they did on Tuesday it shows a lot about the mentality of your team. That’s why I'm very proud of my team because they’ve shown the ability to refocus.

"We have a lot of questions about our strikers but Theo Walcott is outstanding and Olivier Giroud is outstanding at the moment.

"We'll keep our humility and our desire to grow. We lost our first game of the season at the Emirates and no one would say we would be top of the table after that."

Everton manager Roberto Martinez: "I thought we shot ourselves in the foot in giving away such an easy two-goal lead. Arsenal were not creating any real threat. But I very much enjoyed the reaction - the personality and desire of wanting to get back.

"There's two important moments in the second half Petr Chech makes a save and Romelu Lukaku heads against the crossbar. There are many positives but clearly on the other side is giving up a soft two-goal lead.

"We're very concerned about Phil Jagielka. It's a knee injury - we don’t the extent of it, but that's the biggest negative today."

Player Reaction

Arsenal's opening scorer Olivier Giroud reacts to the win: "When we are attacking we need to finish the action. We knew they played wll on the break and we were aware but their goal was a bit lucky because it deflected. It's nice to win this kind of game after a Champions League game.

On being chosen ahead of Theo Walcott: "The main thing is the team is doing well. That's the best thing for me. As long as we are winning I am pleased with that. Me and Theo have a good understanding. He was in good form, now it's me, so we try and bring our small cam to the big machine."

Shaw Post  believes that Arsenal will be very happy with their performance today as they started brightly in the first half but had to be patient until the 36th minute as Everton also fought very well in a very even thirty minutes. 

Then Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock as he rose in the 36th minute to meet a perfect cross by Mesut Ozil to put Arsenal 1-0 up.

Fifty second's later Arsenal were 2-0 up as perfect free kick by Santi Cazorla saw Koscielny rise to head Arsenal 2-0 up.

Everton fought back just before half time to half the deficit as  Ross Barkley brought Everton back into it via a deflected shot which went in off Gabriel Paulista leg.

Both teams came out in the second half looking for way to win the game. They both had chances but Arsenal held on to win 2-1.

Perhaps life could have been easier for The Gunners if Giroud scored in the second half as he came mighty close to doing so as his shot hit the crossbar.

It was a great win for Arsenal in the end as they showed no complacency to win 2-1 in style to top the Barclays Premiership for the first time since February 9th 2014.

As for Everton it is now 22 meetings and more than 19 years since Everton won away at Arsenal.

In more recent history, Roberto Martinez's side were fifth in the table after their win over West Brom at the end of September.
 
They have picked up one point from three matches since to slide back to 10th. 

There are also problems for the future after captain Phil Jagielka limped off with an apparent knee injury after an innocuous challenge with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The travelling Toffees fans faced a race across London on the final whistle after the last train back to Liverpool - the 21:30 from Euston - was cancelled. The home fans greeted news of the altered timetable with loud cheers.