Arsenal player ratings vs Everton: Viktor Gyokeres on the spot! Striker's penalty enough to take Gunners back to Premier League summit after fortunate victory at Hill Dickinson Stadium

Arsenal regained top spot in the Premier League courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Everton at the Hill Dickson Stadium. The slender win was decided in the first-half after Viktor Gyokeres fired home from the penalty spot after Jake O’Brien handled in the box. Everton had two massive penalty appeals turned away in the second-half, but the Gunners held on for the three points.

The Gunners took the lead courtesy of Viktor Gyokere’s 27th minute penalty following a comedy handball from O’Brien, who connected both hands with the ball high above his head in the box. Jordan Pickford did his best to slow down the taking of the spot-kick, remonstrating with the referee, but the Sweden international stepped-up confidently and thrashed the ball past home to hand the north Londoners a deserved lead.

In truth the Toffees weren’t at their best and failed to muster a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes, but will feel hard done by that they weren’t awarded a penalty in the early stages of the second-half when Martin Zubimendi tripped Thierno Barry right on the edge of the box. Everton boss David Moyes was fuming as referee Samuel Barrott waved the appeals away. And there was a long review after Barry appeared to be caught by William Saliba, but again the match officials and VAR said no foul had been committed.

The victory means the Gunners leap-frogged Manchester City to top the table at Christmas with key Premier League clashes against Brighton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth to come over the festive period after they play Crystal Palace in the delayed Carabao Cup quarter-final clash on Tuesday.

GOAL rates Arsenal's players from the Hill Dickinson Stadium...

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Goalkeeper & Defence
David Raya (7/10):
Had a relatively comfortable evening, even if the defence in front of him did have a couple of wobbles. Took care of everything asked of him.
Ricciardo Calafiori (7/10):
Had plenty of defending to do as Everton made many of their runs down the right hand side, average position well in his own half and stood up to the test well.
Piero Hincapie (6/10):
Held a high line to counter the threat of McNeil and Iroegbunam. Lucky to not see yellow for a shirt grab in the second half.
William Saliba (6/10):
Was a tough evening and he was very (very) lucky to not concede a penalty after appearing to kick Barry in the box. Made to sweat as VAR took an age to make its mind up on the spot kick decision.
Jurrien Timber (7/10):
Brilliant at both ends of the pitch, pushed high to support Saka and made some incisive passes.

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Midfield
Martin Odegaard (7/10):
Will be pleased with his side's performance and was another who had to put the hard yards in as the Gunners defended their lead. Subbed in the 88th minute.
Martin Zubimendi (6/10):
Put in a typical fully-committed performance and was lucky to not concede a penalty, despite appearing to clip Barry as the pair arrived in the box.
Declan Rice (7/10):
Was a slow performance without any real standout moment, but put in the shift his side needed, doing well to break up play and make Everton's life hard as they pushed for an equaliser.
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Attack
Bukayo Saka (7/10):
A hostile presence around the Everton box all evening and should have scored in the 49th minute, but his low drive was well saved by Pickford. As always, he was full of running, but failed to create many chances.
Viktor Gyokeres (7/10):
Took his penalty very confidently, but had few chances aside from the goal. Did a decent job of running the line, will see it as a steady performance which was only marred by a stupid yellow card for kicking the ball away. Taken off in the 64th minute.
Leandro Trossard (8/10):
Continues to find himself at the heart of everything good about this Arsenal side. Will be disappointed his curling effort clattered into the post, when it deserved a goal. Subbed off in the 80th minute.

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Subs & Manager
Gabriel Jesus (7/10):
Brought on just after the hour mark to replace Gyokeres. Some touches around the Everton box, but no major impact.
Gabriel Martinelli (6/10):
Replaced Trossard in the 80th minute. Had a few touches of the ball as Arsenal closed-up the match to protect their three points.
Mikel Merino (N/A):
Replaced Odegaard with a few minutes to go.
Mikel Arteta (7/10):
Will be delighted with the resilience and grit shown by his side on a night that was low on high quality moments and required his team to dig deep against the physical threat posed by the Toffees.

Goalkeeper & Defence

Midfield

Attack

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Subs & Manager