For 88 minutes, Arsenal made a very good Everton side look almost good enough to earn a point at the Emirates. Then three substitutes combined to make the 60,176 in attendance feel a lot better about things.
Viktor Gyökeres broke the deadlock in the 89th minute — not with a spectacular finish, but a scrappy tap-in that will matter just as much come May. Max Dowman, 16 years old, had put in the cross. A deflection off Piero Hincapié came off Pickford and fell to the Swedish striker, who didn’t need a second invitation. Then Dowman did it himself.
With Pickford abandoned at the other end for a corner, the teenager took the ball and ran. No one caught him. He slotted home in the seventh minute of stoppage time to become the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history.
The framing matters here. Arsenal didn’t control this game in the way the 65% possession figure might suggest. Everton, buoyed by back-to-back wins and the joint-best defensive record in the division, were the better side for large portions of a frustrating first half.
Dwight McNeil hit the woodwork from distance. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall forced a diving Raya save. Everton’s xGA of 41.4 against just 33 goals conceded tells you this is a team genuinely hard to score against.
Arteta was forced into a first-half substitution when Jurriën Timber went off injured, bringing on Cristhian Mosquera earlier than intended. His planned tactical changes came just after the hour: Noni Madueke made way for Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz for Gyökeres. From that moment on, Arsenal looked sharper.
Eberechi Eze had six shots from outside the box on the evening — the most by an Arsenal player in a league game since Odegaard’s eight against Bournemouth three years ago. Most went nowhere near the target. The breakthrough, when it came, owed more to individual quality and goalkeeper error than to any systemic breakthrough.
“You just have to go in that dressing room and feel the mood, the energy and the way we talk to each other and how much we value the position that we have right now,” said Arteta.
It was the kind of quote that sounds modest but carries genuine conviction. Arsenal are now nine points clear of Manchester City. Arsenal’s substitutes have now scored or assisted more goals from the bench than any side in the league this season. The title is theirs to lose.