Everton 0-1 Arsenal: The Gunners showed their mettle on Merseyside as they overcame a difficult task and returned to the top of the Premier League thanks to Victor Gökeres’ brutal penalty.
When Victor Goqueres slotted home the winning penalty, Declan Rice marched out and indulged in a pointing celebration.
Now I know what Rice is doing. He told the £64m striker that his team-mates trust him and want them to believe in him. On a night of attrition on Merseyside, the Gunners needed a leader when fluency ran out in Mikel Arteta’s side.
And when Arteta needs a leader, Rice often steps forward. Not only was Rice full of his usual physical fortitude, but he was by some margin the best player in a low-quality contest.
And his contribution allowed Arsenal to win, albeit in their own sneaky way. The win was impressive as it was Arsenal’s first Premier League start in a non-top position in recent months.
If anyone thought this situation would create even more tension, they were dead wrong.
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But after 15 minutes of glorious walking football, at least Arsenal produced a few half-chances, with Martin Zvimendi’s best chance sending a left peg into the stands.
But despite barely being able to escape from the blocks, Arteta’s side appeared to have little trouble against an Everton side missing several key players.
And they got a great helping hand from Jake O’Brien. He was initially lucky to escape punishment when he appeared to be shoved by Victor Goqueres inside Everton’s six-yard box.
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Never mind, Jake clearly thought the handball from the next corner was going to be a penalty trick. Strangely, as if to confirm that, the Everton defender attacked with both hands and referee Sam Ballot somehow missed the attack before VAR quickly set things right.
Gokeres hit the penalty with great force, momentarily taking the goal frame off its platform. Granted, it was just a penalty, but considering Gökeres has struggled to adapt since his big-money move, it was a blow to the conviction of a man who is not lacking in confidence.
Let me tell you, this is a player who has scored 19 spin penalties in domestic league games. His hard-taken spot-kick was undoubtedly the highlight of the first half and it says it all.
While veteran Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened the scoring for Elland Road, Everton failed to get a single shot on goal before the interval, leaving them with an expected goal count of 0.0 at half-time. It was terrible.
Arsenal weren’t at their best, but that gave reason for some hope among the home supporters and David Moyes. And Moyes’ side were unlucky to miss their own chance from the penalty spot after William Salina kicked the sole of Tierno Barry’s left boot and ran away.
Arsenal were supposed to add to their injury squad soon after with Declan Rice replacing Leandro Trossard, but the Belgian went for an unnecessarily flashy finish and his shot hit the post.
And just after Arteta’s side regained control of what had been a fairly chaotic run, the same post sprung up to diss Zvimendi.
The waste in front of goal – Bukayo Saka uncharacteristically guilty of making a few wrong choices – made the final stages a little more tense than they needed to be, but the truth is there was no doubt about the result.
Manchester City threw the gauntlet and Arsenal and Rice picked it up.
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