A Viktor Gyokeres penalty was enough to ensure we won on our first visit to Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, and ensure we remained top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day.
Our Swedish striker slammed the ball into the net from 12 yards on 26 minutes after the Toffees’ Jake O’Brien handled inside the box from a corner, to register his seventh goal in red and white.
We struck the post twice through Leandro Trossard and Martin Zubimendi after the break, but ultimately one goal was enough to keep us top of the pile, and allow Mikel Arteta’s sixth anniversary in charge would be one to celebrate.
Spot-kick success
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As well as kicking off in unfamiliar surroundings, we found ourselves in an unfamiliar position as for the first time since the early days of October, we went into a game not on the Premier League summit after Manchester City moved above us earlier in the day.
But after a quiet opening 15 minutes, we soon went to putting that right. A few early warning signs came when Martin Zubimendi fired over after a poor Michael Keane clearance, and then Gyokeres flicked a header just wide of the post, before we were denied a potential penalty when the Swedish striker was bundled into attempting to head in a cross, but VAR rejected the appeals.
However a minute later those same officials were needed when a corner into the box initially deemed to have come off Riccardo Calafiori’s head, but replays showed that Jake O’Brien inexplicably pushed it off the Italian defender’s head with both hands.
After a long delay, Gyokeres was sent to the penalty spot but he kept his cool to emphatically blast the spot kick past Jordan Pickford to put us in front.
That was the telling moment of a quiet opening 45 as we dominated possession and carved out a couple of other half-chances, with Declan Rice scuffing the ball over the bar from the edge of the area before a good sliding challenge by James Tarkowski forced Gyokeres to miss the target after a near through-ball by William Saliba just before the interval.
Woodwork rattled
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Not long after play restarted, the Everton skipper provided another crucial intervention to stop his team from conceding a second when Jurrien Timber gave Saka a shooting chance inside the box, and he fed the ball past Pickford, but Tarkowski cleared.
Both fixtures against Everton last season ended level, and the fragility of our lead was shown on a couple of occasions when Thierno Barry was sent through on goal but Zubimendi managed to get back and snuff out the danger, and then VAR was asked to check on a potential foul by Saliba on Barry as they tussled for the ball in the box, but the judgement went in our favour.
Then twice in quick succession, the woodwork prevented us from establishing the two-goal cushion we craved. Firstly on 64 minutes, a slick move involving Timber, Martin Odegaard and Rice led to an opportunity for Leandro Trossard to curl the ball around Pickford but his shot smacked the post. Four minutes later Saka and Odegaard linked up to good effect to allow Zubimendi to drive towards the bottom corner, but the same upright came to Everton’s rescue again.
Having endured plenty of stoppage-time drama of late, thankfully, this time around, we managed to negotiate six additional minutes without any incident, to ensure that David Raya enjoyed a quiet night between our posts, and return to the top of the Premier League tree at Christmas.
What's next
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We're in Carabao Cup quarter-final action against Crystal Palace on Tuesday at Emirates Stadium, before we then host Brighton & Hove Albion next Saturday on December 27. Our final game of 2025 is also a home affair, as we tackle Aston Villa on Tuesday, December 30.
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