Mikel Arteta can toast his sixth anniversary as Arsenal manager from the Premier League summit and with the Christmas No 1 spot secured once again. Behind the headline positivity, however, must be a realisation that more convincing performances are required to hold on until the final reckoning.
Viktor Gyökeres’ emphatic first-half penalty sealed a slender yet merited win over an Everton team missing several important components. Arsenal were more efficient than impressive and rarely troubled throughout a scrappy contest. But this was a test of title-winning character as much as quality after three away games without a win in the league and having lost top spot for the first time since mid-October before kick-off. In that respect Arteta can be encouraged by a reaction that ensured Manchester City’s stay in first place would be brief and Arsenal would be top at Christmas for the third time in four years.
“It gives me belief and confidence, the level of performance and the consistency of that,” said the Arsenal manager. “It is very difficult to do that in this league. We are going to have to go to difficult places but we have to enjoy the process of winning.”
There was nothing to report from a tedious opening aside from the pathetic and frequent poverty chanting by the Arsenal away support. Fair play to the Everton employee who decided to display an advertisement for ‘Fans Supporting Foodbanks’ on the giant stadium screens in response.
