Three wins in seven days and Arteta’s Arsenal revolution is just getting started

Three games, seven days, three wins - Mikel Arteta’s revolution at Arsenal is gathering pace!

And this latest victory, against an in-form Everton side who hadn’t played for 15 days, was the most impressive of the lot.

For the final half an hour, Arsenal were unsurprisingly out on the feet, but they held on to win 3-2 through sheer determination and character, and thanks to the brilliance of Bernd Leno.

Arteta’s side have now moved up to ninth in the Premier League and have stretched their unbeaten start in 2020 to 10 games. This is an Arsenal team that are beginning to look unrecognisable from the mess that we saw on a weekly basis under Unai Emery earlier in the season.

Going into the Newcastle game last weekend there were already clear signs of major improvement, but wins were still proving difficult to come by.

But that 4-0 success has now been followed by victory at Olympiacos in the Europa League and this thrilling win against an Everton team who arrived in north London unbeaten in their last five games.

And of those three wins, this was the most impressive of the lot given the circumstances.

Arsenal fell behind inside a minute when Dominic Calvert-Lewis acrobatically volleyed home and earlier in the season that may well have prompted them to fold.

But this team are different, as they proved at Chelsea last month when they fought back twice to claim a 2-2 draw with 10 men.

They regrouped, grew into the game and then turned it on its head in fabulous style.

Eddie Nketiah, making his second successive Premier League start, equalised just before the half-hour mark when he volleyed in superbly at the near post having been picked out by Bukayo Saka’s magnificent cross.

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And then the hosts took the lead six minutes later through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who raced onto David Luiz’s through ball before curling a shot past Jordan Pickford.

It was another wonderful goal, but Everton continued to look a threat, especially at set pieces, and they levelled seconds before the interval when Richarlison prodded in from close range after Arsenal had failed to deal with a corner.

Again, it was a goal that could easily have sucked the life out of the home team, but they came out in the second half and responded emphatically.

It took just 27 seconds for them to restore their lead after the restart, with Aubameyang heading in Nicolas Pepe’s cross from the right-hand side.

Aubameyang now has 17 goals in the Premier League this season and has drawn level with Jamie Vardy in the race for the Golden Boot.

Arsenal’s skipper continues to lead by example, even though he is playing out of position on the left-hand side. And it’s not just his goals that are impressive, but his work rate as well.

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And never was that more evident than in the final half-hour when a clearly fresher Everton side started to pile on the pressure in the hunt for an equaliser.

Arsenal were out on their feet, but they fought for everything and held out, with Leno making two magnificent saves from Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison to keep their lead intact.

The full-time whistle was greeted by huge cheers from the Arsenal fans, who knew how hard their side had worked to see it through, while Arteta punched the air ecstatically on the touchline.

This was a huge win, one that has moved the Gunners to within seven points of the top four and perhaps more importantly - given Manchester City’s impending European ban - just four points behind Manchester United in fifth.

A season that was looking like a disaster just a couple of months ago is suddenly alive once again. Since arriving in December, Arteta has slowly restored the confidence to a squad that appeared shell-shocked.

Arsenal believe once again and the most exciting thing of all is you get the sense that the Spaniard is only just getting started.