Arsenal kept their Premier League title hopes on track with a hard-fought win over Everton, though they were made to work far harder than the scoreline suggests in a tense encounter at the Emirates Stadium.
For long periods this looked like a match that could slip away from Mikel Arteta’s side. Everton were the better team for much of the contest, carrying a real threat on the break and coming agonisingly close to taking the lead in the first half.
Dwight McNeil was the chief tormentor, first seeing a goal-bound effort brilliantly blocked by Riccardo Calafiori before crashing a left-footed strike off the upright with David Raya beaten.
The Arsenal goalkeeper was also called into action to deny Kieran Dewsbury-Hall, while a penalty appeal for the hosts – when Kai Havertz appeared to be clipped inside the area – was waved away by referee Andrew Madley and upheld by VAR.
Arsenal had their moments too. Noni Madueke tested Jordan Pickford from a short corner routine in the opening exchanges, and Bukayo Saka had an effort correctly ruled out for offside, but a flat, anxious performance meant the home side could not find a way through before the break.
Late breakthrough
The second half brought more of the same. Arsenal probed and pressed but lacked a cutting edge, with Eberechi Eze heading the list of culprits for the hosts’ wastefulness in front of goal.
Arteta responded with a double change on the hour, introducing Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli, but it was the arrival of 16-year-old Max Dowman on 74 minutes that proved the key intervention.
The teenager injected a directness that Arsenal had been sorely lacking, and it was Dowman who supplied the crucial moment on 89 minutes, bending an inswinging cross from the right that picked out Piero Hincapie.
The defender’s prodded touch fell perfectly for Gyokeres, who tapped home from close range to send the Emirates erupting.
The points were then put beyond doubt in remarkable fashion deep in stoppage time. With Everton having thrown goalkeeper Pickford forward for a corner, Martinelli broke clear and found Dowman, who kept his composure to run through and slot into an empty net.
The win moves Arsenal closer to a first league title in 22 years, with the points gap at the top looking increasingly difficult to close for Manchester City. For Everton, despite a performance that merited more, the result leaves their own European ambitions hanging by a thread.
