Martinelli scored twice as EPL league-leader Arsenal clinched 100 league games victory against Everton to be the first team to reach that feat in Premier League history.
Arsenal scored 4+ goals against Everton for the 12th time in a Premier League match, which is more than any English club has done against another in the league’s history. The Gunners are now five points clear with just 13 games remaining. Meanwhile, Everton suffered their biggest Premier League defeat since the final match of last season, and 5-1 embarrassing defeat against the Gunners at the Emirates. Follow for accurate Soccer Prediction here!
This victory is an important statement for Arsenal, after suffering from a 3-1 defeat against the reigning EPL Champion Manchester City. However, that defeat brought the best from the current league-leader. The 21 year-old Bukayo Saka scored the opener in the 40th minute to break the defense given Sean Dyche’s side. He became the sixth youngest footballer in the Premier League to reach 50 goals + assists.
Bukayo Saka then continued his brilliant performance when he caught Idrissa Gueye dozing to set up a play with Gabriel Martinelli for the second at the 45th minute and ended the extended first half with a 2-0 commanding lead. Martin Odegaard and Martinelli added fillers to a demolition in the second half. This could have been a more embarrassing defeat for Everton, but Arsenal had lots of opportunities to extend their lead.
The quest for the first silverware cup since 2004 is still clear but there are some dangers and difficult assignments to face, including the match against Fulham, Liverpool, Newcastle, and the biggest one will be on April 26 against their league rival Manchester City. This is really a great victory for Arsenal as there are also a lot of key players came back in action at the field, Thomas Partey came in for the second half to provide needed influence in the midfield, while the strength of the Gunners’ squad was highlighted with the introduction of Kieran Tierney, Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Fabio Vieira as substitutes.
“I’m really happy,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after the game. “It was the game that we had in hand against an opponent that we knew were going to make life really difficult for us. We experienced that at Goodison.” While addressing his excitement of winning the important game for Arsenal, Arteta cannot avoid talking about the errors that his side committed during the first 40 minutes, letting Everton execute the defense well and containing them to scoreless before Saka freed through in the 40th minute.
“We started the game with some frustration, not really understanding what we had to do, allowing them to run in certain transitions, but after 20 or 25 minutes I think we started to get much better and think the timing of the first two goals was key.
“We needed a magic moment there and Alex [Zinchenko] and ‘B’ [Bukayo Saka] produced it. And then the team grew, especially with Thomas, because Jorgi wasn’t feeling good today.”
On the other hand, Everton boss Sean Dyche addressed the shortcomings of his side: “For 40 minutes, I thought we did very well against a top side. You know you have to work for the counter at places like this, which we did.
Finding the killer moments is the story of the season so far, before and with me, and that defined that period… It’s not always about us. There are lots of things we could have done better. But at the end of the day, they are a top side and they showed it in the second half,” he said during the post-match interview.
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