March 2, 2023
We moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a convincing four-goal win over Everton at a bouncing Emirates Stadium.
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both struck their 10th Premier League goals of the campaign late in the first half to put us in control, before Martin Odegaard virtually sealed the win when he tucked home a Leandro Trossard cutback.
Martinelli then netted his fourth goal in his last three outings 10 minutes from time
The first half was a slow burner, with initially few little opportunities created by either side. Jorginho saw an attempt from a short corner flash over the top of the crossbar four minutes in, while the only piece of work Aaron Ramsdale had to do in the opening half saw him comfortably deal with a Neal Maupay effort from range.
In a similar fashion to the game at Goodison 25 days earlier, the visitors attempted to frustrate us by playing a low block and soaking up any pressure, while looking to spring counter attacks whenever possible. While these were few and far between, Gabriel had to be alert to make an excellent sliding tackle to prevent Maupay getting another sight of goal after a breakaway.
It looked as though we would have little to show for our efforts from the first 45, however five minutes before half-time some Saka magic saw us find our way in front. Oleksandr Zinchenko roamed infield, picked up possession and instantly played an inch-perfect pass into the feet of Saka.
After controlling the ball, an excellent touch saw him spin past Vitalii Mykolenko to open up a shooting chance, and despite a tight angle he thrashed a shot into the top corner past his international colleague Jordan Pickford to hit double figures for the season in the Premier League.
And then in stoppage-time, we managed to gain firm control of the game by doubling our lead. Idrissa Gueye dispossessed Martin Odegaard in midfield but was caught dawdling on the ball, allowing Saka to nip in and prod it into the path of Martinelli, who cooly dispatched past Pickford.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside by the linesman's flag, but VAR intervened and showed the Brazilian was marginally behind his teammate to score for the third-straight game and hand us a healthy half-time lead.
With his side now needing something different to get back into the contest, Dyche shuffled his pack and Ramsdale had to be alert to dive low and push away a Dwight McNeil shot after a powerful run from the Toffees winger, but after that brief scare we wrapped the crucial points up on 71 minutes.
Leandro Trossard was sent on his way down the left in acres of space, and he had plenty of time to get into the box and cut the ball back for Odegaard to finish off the simple opportunity.
With the confidence flowing through the team, we looked in the mood to score more and Pickford did well to smother an Eddie Nketiah shot after he was found by a delightful Thomas Partey pass, but 10 minutes from time we added a fourth.
Zinchenko was onc
By Arsenal
