Arsenal are now level on points with Premier League title rivals Manchester City after they beat Everton thanks to Mikel Arteta's favourite trick

Arsenal scored their first set-piece goal of the season en route to beating Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. And it meant they capitalised on title rivals Manchester City's first loss of the campaign, after Enzo Maresca's side slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday.

The reigning Premier League champions are now level on 21 points with leaders City, behind them in second only on goal difference. And Mikel Arteta will be delighted that his charges' set-piece prowess, so crucial to them ending a 22-year title drought last season, returned against a stubborn opponent as tough to break down in open play as David Moyes' Everton.

It remains to be seen whether cash cheats City will pose any threat to Arsenal's title ambitions, as if they fail in their appeal after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, the punishment is expected to be so severe that they will no longer be of any relevance to the Gunners. But for now, the mission is to hunt them down, and the North London giants took a big step towards doing that here.

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Arteta made five changes from the 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in midweek. The most obvious was the forced replacement of his injured talisman Bukayo Saka with Eberechi Eze. Meanwhile, Ben White came in for Jurrien Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly was picked ahead of Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino was preferred to Bruno Guimaraes and Viktor Gyokeres replaced Kai Havertz.

For out of favour and out of sorts Gyokeres, this was a huge chance to finally show his worth in his first start of the season in the Premier League. The £64m misfit was up against a formidable centre-back pairing in James Tarkowski and Jake O'Brien, but it took just seven minutes for him to make an impact.

After the home side won a third corner in quick succession, Martin Odegaard floated a ball over which Gabriel flicked on, only for it to take a wicked deflection and Gyokeres divert it into the path of Konsa to bundle home from close range. Remarkably, for a team famed for exploiting such scenarios, it was Arsenal's first set-piece goal of the season and their first excluding penalties in all competitions since one against Crystal Palace last May.

Corner after corner followed - by half-time there had been 13, the most in a Premier League game since West Ham faced Brentford in October 2025. Yet Everton remained resolute and the Gunners had to settle for just a one-goal advantage at the break.

Arteta looked frustrated, which only grew when he received a yellow card in the second half for not respecting the confines of his technical area. Who'd have thought it? The Spanish coach decided to make a triple substitution just after an hour, as Merino, Gyokeres and Lewis-Skellymade way for Guimaraes, Havertz and Calafiori.

There had been a scare for the Gunners, when Gabriel went down in pain after stretching to clear a cross. He waved to the bench, seemingly signalling a serious injury, but soon walked it off, as fans breathed a sigh of relief. And moments later, he made his presence felt.

The Brazilian lynchpin of Arsenal's defence rose to convert a pinpoint cross from Ben White with a strong header, crowning his 200th Premier League appearance in style. Ex-Premier League winner Chris Sutton, commentating for BBC Final Score, praised Arsenal for "finding a way".

The former Blackburn Rovers striker said: "With all the games coming thick and fast, there's been a lot made around Arsenal's recent performances, have they been good to watch? Not really.

"Football and winning is about finding a way like they have done this afternoon. Two goals from the centre halves, do you think Mikel Arteta will care?"