Mikel Arteta allayed any fears of an injury to Arsenal centre-back Gabriel after he went down with a knee issue in their 2-0 win over Everton.

Arsenal moved level at the top of the Premier League table with Manchester City, who lost 2-1 at Aston Villa, as goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel secured the points for the defending champions, who made five changes from their draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek.

Gabriel doubled Arsenal’s lead in the 68th minute having earlier jarred his knee, the Brazilian heading home from Ben White’s cross.

And, with Arsenal set to face Liverpool next Sunday after an EFL Cup tie at Fleetwood Town, Arteta indicated the 28-year-old will likely be fine for the trip to Anfield.

“We all [thought he would have to come off] by the reaction of his team-mates,” Arteta told BBC Match of the Day.

“It was a really worrying action. We know Gabi and how tough and strong he is – and he seems to be OK.

“It’s a big win for us. It was a tough week with the schedule we had to go through, a lot of minutes and the games were coming thick and fast.

“We knew we had a very good opponent in front of us but, overall, we had a good performance and fully deserved to win.

“For the most part, I thought we were the better team and dominated the game.

“But Everton had their spells as usual. To be able to change five players and still play at that level is impressive.”