Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Madueke, Saka, Havertz
Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman, Martinelli, Jesus, Gyokeres
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to ten points following their dramatic late 2-0 win over Everton, thanks to goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Max Dowman.
Mikel Arteta made three changes from the side that drew against Bayer Leverkusen, with Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz both starting after their impressive midweek cameos.
Riccardo Calafiori also replaced Piero Hincapie, although Martin Odegaard and Leandro Trossard missed out on the matchday squad altogether through injury.
FIRST HALF
It was a measured start from Arsenal who were moving the ball around nicely, and there was an early sight of goal for Noni Madueke who tested Pickford through a sea of bodies before Calafiori volleyed over after good footwork from Martin Zubimendi in the box.
There was another chance for Zubimendi who saw another shot blocked by Gueye, before Pickford was at his best to deny Bukayo Saka whose back post header looked destined for the bottom corner, although replays showed he was clearly offside.
Having spent most of the game in their own half, Everton suddenly had two golden chances to score when David Raya struggled to deal with an awkward Ndiaye cross and palmed the ball straight to McNeil, who looked set to score before Calafiori (who was already on the floor) somehow extended his body to block a certain goal.
It was an incredible moment of defending and elasticity from the Italian but from the following passage of play, McNeil got beyond Rice after Everton recycled the ball and whacked the post from distance with Raya beaten. Arteta’s men were a bit lucky not to be behind.
Minutes later, Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty when Eberechi Eze played a lovely ball through to Kai Havertz, who took the ball beautifully but went down under contact from Keane before it rolled through to Pickford.
Referee Andy Madley waved the appeals away and VAR also waved the situation away, although replays showed there was clear contact from Keane on Havertz who stepped on the German as he ran through, which impeded his run going through and brought him down. Their interpretation of the incident was typically strange.
With 35 minutes on the clock, Arteta was forced into a change with Timber picking up a knock and Cristhian Mosquera was chosen to replace him – instead of Ben White – which might give us an insight into how fit the latter is at this moment.
It was a difficult half for the Gunners who started well and had most of the territory, but lacked that final moment of incision to break a resolute Everton defence down. The visitors had their fair share of chances too which kept things on a knife edge.
SECOND HALF
Neither side made a change at half time but Everton started strongest with Beto drawing a brilliant save from Raya at the near post, and you could feel some nerves going through the Arsenal side who were struggling to build any rhythm in possession and were close to making some bad mistakes at the back.
The game was becoming increasingly frantic but Arsenal pinned back Everton for the first time in the second half, and Saka almost squeezed a shot through Pickford but nobody in a red shirt was there to tap home the rebound.
With an hour on the clock, Arteta made a double change with Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli replacing Havertz and Madueke.
Eze nearly bent in a beautiful strike minutes later but it bounced just wide with Pickford beaten, before Keane headed inches wide from a Garner free kick after the referee gave yet another soft free kick to Everton.
With 20 minutes left to play, Arteta rolled the dice once again with Max Dowman and Piero Hincapie coming on to replace Zubimendi and Calafiori, in hope of finding that all important goal to win the game.
That moved brought Eze into a deeper role alongside Rice, with Saka stepping into a more central role.
And Dowman had a tangible impact on the game, with Mykolenko struggling to deal with his direct running and there was another save from Pickford when Eze whacked a shot from distance but it was relatively central and dealt with by the goalkeeper.
With the clock ticking towards full time, Arsenal worked another presentable shooting opportunity when Hincapie and Martinelli combined well down the left, but after Eze found Dowman on the corner of the box, he leant back and fired well over.
But the Gunners eventually, finally broke Everton down and it came from Dowman who sent a teasing cross to the back post which Pickford came for and missed, with Hincapie inadvertently knocking it back to Gyokeres who tapped into an empty net. 1-0.
Emirates Stadium erupted after 45 minutes of frustration throughout the second half and you could feel the nervous energy turn into jubilation as the fans went wild in the stands.
There were six minutes added on which added to the drama in N5, but the Gunners held out well despite Everton knocking some long balls and crosses into the box.
The visitors ended up winning a late corner after Gabriel headed clear with Pickford pushing up in search of a late equaliser, which lead to a dramatic winner from Dowman who won the ball, took on two defenders and passed the ball into the empty net. 2-0.
It was a coming of age moment for the teenager who changed the game for Arsenal and showed the world what everyone is so excited about at this club. Thierry Henry scoring against Leeds, Andrei Arshavin scoring against Barcelona, we will remember this night for a long time.
From seven to ten points clear – over to you, City.