This was exactly the kind of win that can change the mood around a title race. Arsenal did not need romance at Emirates Stadium on Saturday at 3pm. They needed three points, control and a response to a punishing week, and they got all three with a 2-0 win over Everton that moved them level on points with the top of the Premier League.
That matters. It matters because Arsenal had travelled to Munich on Wednesday night, arrived back late on Thursday and still had to deliver again less than 48 hours later. It matters because Mikel Arteta has been dealing with injuries and a schedule that would test any squad. And it matters because when the Live Premier League Table starts to tighten, there is no room for soft excuses or wasted afternoons.
A victory with a proper edge
Arteta was not in the mood for modesty afterwards. In N5, he made the point plainly: Arsenal were happy with the victory, the performance and the week, because they had been given a terrible schedule. He was right to say so. This was not a clean, ideal build-up. It was the sort of stretch that can flatten momentum if a side is even slightly off.
Instead, Arsenal found a way through it. Arteta described one of the goalscorers as a clear example of the team’s mentality, and also of individual mentality. That is the kind of line managers use when they want to underline more than just the scoreline. They want to say the standard held. Arsenal did that here.
There was another detail worth noting as well: Arsenal had not scored from a set-piece before this game. Then the floodgates opened in the most literal way possible, with the two centre-backs scoring the goals. Arteta admitted he was sure that moment would unlock something, and the belief of the players. That is not nothing. For all the modern talk about patterns and positioning, sometimes a team just needs proof that the work is going to pay off.
The depth question is still alive
There was also a practical edge to Arteta’s comments on availability. He said he was very impressed, and that having that availability is necessary because of the injuries to Bukayo and Christos, two players who give Arsenal so much threat in the final third. That is the real subtext here: Arsenal are staying in the race, but they are doing it while carrying absences and a difficult calendar.
Arteta also explained that one player had a light issue, something very small, but that he had been cautious about it. That kind of caution will continue to matter if Arsenal are going to keep pace. The season does not care how tired a squad is feeling, and the table does not hand out sympathy for travel or timing.
Still, the larger picture is hard to ignore. Arsenal moved level on points with the top of the Premier League, and they did it after a demanding week that could easily have produced a flat, apologetic performance. Instead, they won 2-0, kept the pressure on and reminded everyone that this is not a team waiting politely for the title race to come to it. It is already there.
Arteta even managed a touch of humour when asked about the edge of the technical area, saying he would have to be careful and put sensors there. Fair enough. On a day like this, he had earned the right to enjoy the moment. Arsenal have survived a nasty stretch, and the Live Premier League Table now tells the proper story: they are right back in the thick of it.
