Goals from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny were enough for Arsenal to see off Everton 2-1 on a dreary but entertaining Saturday night at the Emirates.
The Gunners made their move in quick-fire fashion, taking and then doubling the lead the 36th and 38th minutes, with Tim Howard’s handling of his penalty area called into serious doubt on both occasions.
The match never really seemed to settle into a rhythm. It was for the most part controlled by the home side, though things opened up in the final 20 minutes.
Ross Barkley brought Everton back into the game six minutes later, scoring with a strike that took a flagrant deflection off Brazilian centre-half Gabriel.
Giroud came close to icing the match in the 68th minute, rattling the crossbar with a curling effort from the right.
The match ended with a flurry and the visitors remained a chance. Romelu Lukaku came close to restoring parity a quarter of an hour to play. He leaped highest over a stretched defence and headed across Petr Cech, only to find the top of the bar.
Cech was again called into action, after Gerard Deulofeu found space in the area, only for the ex-Chelsea custodian to narrow the angles and block the effort.
Soon after, Mesut Ozil went close with an effort that clattered the outside base of Howard’s left post.
The Merseysiders ended the match with 10 men after Gareth Barry was shown a second yellow card in the dying seconds of the contest. He will miss Everton’s next fixture against Sunderland.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, top of the table for the time-being, travel to Wales to tackle Swansea City next up.
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