Trossard’s 69th-minute goal for Everton gave Arsenal a 1-0 advantage.
For the first time in almost six years, Arsenal returned from Goodison Park with all three points thanks to Leandro Trossard’s skillfully executed winning goal.
The last time they had triumphed north of Stanley Park, the expanse of land that separates Goodison from bitter rivals Liverpool’s Anfield, was in October 2017.
In football terms, that is a very long time, and since then, much has changed, especially since Arteta completely transformed the team. On that day, Monreal, Ozil, Lacazette, Ramsey, and Sanchez all made successful shots.
It feels like ancient history, do you get the picture?
Given their dismal recent history here—they’ve lost four out of their last five visits—in most other games, we’d have discussed a free hit.
Nevertheless, this is The Arsenal, a team that spent close to £200 million to win the Premier League for the first time in 20 years.
Arteta and the players understood that defeating the struggling Toffees, who have just one point after five games and are likely to have another difficult season, was necessary if they wanted to mount a serious title challenge and push Man City hard.
The Toffees played with efficiency and organization in the manner of Sean Dyche, but as is frequently the case, their defensive fortitude hindered their offensive goals. Beto and Calwert-Lewin didn’t have much to think about, and the rest of the Everton team appeared uninterested.
The shocking announcement that David Raya would replace Aaron Ramsdale had been the only major event leading up to the game until Fabio Vieira blew a good opportunity on minute ten.
However, it would not have mattered if Arsenal had put a chair between the posts today.
Since Everton lacked a cutting edge, they would still have kept the score clean.
Gabriel Martinelli’s luck ran out shortly after the Portuguese missed, as he had a goal disallowed for offside and then had to leave the game due to injury.
He was replaced by Trossard as Arsenal remained camped in Everton’s half and went on to make the game-winning contribution.
But after 45 minutes, there was nothing separating them from Everton due to a lack of creativity on the ball.
The second half saw the Gunners attack with much more zeal, vigor, and conviction, throwing everything at Everton, who had suddenly dropped very deep out of concern for leaving openings for the fast forward menzz of Arsenal.
In addition, on either side of Pickford’s save from Odegaard, Trossard skillfully finished off the post with the inside of his left foot after a strong Saka cutback.
Finally, the Goodison Park curse has been lifted.
Line-ups.
Everton.
The following are the players: 1 Pickford, 6 Tarkowski, 7 McNeil, 8 Onana, 10 Danjuma, 14 Beto, 16 Doucoure, 18 Young, 19 Mykolenko, and 32 Branthaite.
Arsenal.
2 Saliba, 22 Raya, 4 White, 6 Gabriel Magalhaes, 7 Saka, 8 Odegaard, 11 Martinelli, 14 Nketiah, 21 Vieira, 35 Oleksandr Zinchenko, and 41 Rice.
