Arsenal took advantage of Manchester City’s slip-up against Aston Villa, as they beat Everton 2-0 to pull level with the Premier League leaders.
Goals from Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhães helped Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Everton, taking them level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
In teeming rain at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s centre-backs provided the key moments in front of goal, with Konsa netting for the first time since his arrival from Aston Villa and Gabriel making the points safe midway through the second half.
Everton had their moments in attack, most notably when David Raya won a one-v-one duel with Thierno Barry at 1-0, but Mikel Arteta’s side held on to take advantage of City’s earlier defeat at Aston Villa.
Arsenal had been uncharacteristically poor from set-pieces at the start of this season, failing to score from a dead ball in 12 matches across all competitions (excluding penalties), but their old strength returned in the seventh minute.
Gabriel’s flick-on from a Martin Ødegaard delivery had Jordan Pickford scrambling, and with Vitalii Mykolenko falling to ground at the far post, there was nobody to stop Konsa from prodding home.
Tyrique George curled wide as Everton threatened on the break, though Arsenal also had chances to extend their advantage through Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke.
Everton were almost gifted an equaliser when Ben White’s lacklustre header played Barry through, but Raya was equal to his outside-of-the-boot flick, then Mikel Merino nodded over from a Declan Rice free-kick in the final action of the first half.
The start of the second half saw the opportunities dry up at both ends, with Gabriel playing on following an injury scare and Pickford falling on a threatening left-wing centre from Eze.
But Arsenal doubled their advantage when a neat move culminated in White making an overlapping run and crossing to the far post, where Gabriel rose highest to head into the left side of the goal with 68 minutes on the clock.
Everton never really looked likely to cause any late nerves among the home fans, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall heading wide from their best chance and eight minutes of stoppage time passing without incident.
Arsenal 2-0 Everton Stats 2026-27
Arsenal 2-0 Everton Stats 2026-27
Arsenal Defenders Show Forwards How to Finish
Arsenal are still yet to settle on a favoured formula up front this season, with Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz battling it out to start as their striker.
Matters worsened in midweek, too, as key winger Bukayo Saka suffered a quadriceps injury that could keep him out for two months, during the Gunners’ 2-2 UEFA Champions League draw with Bayern Munich.
Luckily for Arteta, he has defenders who are very capable of threatening in advanced areas. In Konsa and Gabriel, Arsenal saw two centre-backs score in the same game for the first time since February 2024, when Gabriel and William Saliba netted in a 6-0 rout of West Ham.
Gabriel’s goal was his 21st in the Premier League, but his first that has not come from a set-piece.
Gabriel Magalhães Premier League Goals
Gabriel Magalhães Premier League Goals
The Gunners were ultimately good value for their victory, having racked up 20 shots and 1.77 expected goals, compared to Everton’s eight attempts and 0.48 xG.
Arteta’s side put up 0.79 xG from set-pieces alone, with their physicality proving too much for an Everton side who were without Jarrad Branthwaite due to injury.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Arsenal vs Everton stats from their Premier League meeting at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday 24 October 2026.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
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Ad 1 – Opta Live- v1
Arsenal 2-0 Everton: Post-Match Opta Facts
With both Arsenal and Manchester City doing so this season, this is just the third top-flight campaign to have two teams win at least seven of their opening eight matches after 1892-93 (Preston and Sunderland) and 1913-14 (Blackburn and Manchester United).
This was Everton boss David Moyes’ 400th defeat across all competitions in his managerial career with all clubs. 31 of these have come against Arsenal, more than against any other opponent.
Gabriel’s goal was his 14th headed goal in the Premier League, with only Olivier Giroud (27) scoring more headers for Arsenal in the competition (Ian Wright also 14).
Ezri Konsa’s opener was Arsenal’s first set piece goal (excluding penalties) since May against Crystal Palace, ending a run of 13 games without one.
In his 200th Premier League appearance, Gabriel scored his 21st goal in the competition for Arsenal. This was his first not to come from a set piece situation.
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Premier League Opta Stats
Premier League Opta Stats