Without Saka, Arsenal had 20 shots and four on target. Both goals came from the centre-backs: Konsa from a corner, Gabriel from White's cross.
The numbers
| Arsenal | Everton | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 58% | 42% |
| Shots | 20 | 8 |
| On target | 4 | 3 |
| xG | 1.96 | 0.63 |
| Big chances | 2 | 1 |
| Touches in opp. box | 47 | 17 |
| Corners | 12 | 3 |
| Pass accuracy | 87% | 86% |
| Fouls | 11 | 13 |
Result the chances deserved: Arsenal 69% / 20% / Everton 11% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Raya, White, Konsa, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Rice, Merino, Madueke, Ødegaard, Eze, Gyökeres.
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford, Röhl, Tarkowski, O'Brien, Mykolenko, Armstrong, Garner, Johnson, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Barry.
Everton subs: Dibling (for Johnson) and Hackney (for Mykolenko, who went off injured; Garner moved to left-back) in the 70s, Alcaraz (86', Dewsbury-Hall). FotMob's timeline is not clear on the minutes of the first two. Everton coach: David Moyes. Grealish (illness) and Branthwaite (concussion protocol) were missing (Sports Mole).
Cards: Mykolenko, Lewis-Skelly (58'), Garner and Tarkowski; Arteta was booked for leaving his technical area shortly before Arsenal's triple change (FotMob, PA). Attendance 60,207 (FotMob). Played in heavy rain.
Key moments, move by move
- Ødegaard swings in a corner from the right, Arsenal's early pressure turned into a dead ball.
- Gabriel gets his head to it first; the header goes into the ground and is deflected by a challenge (PA via ESPN).
- Pickford claws the ball onto the crossbar, and Mykolenko loses his footing at the far post (Opta Analyst).
- Konsa prods the rebound in from close range: his first Arsenal goal, and the club's first set-piece goal in 13 games.
- Guimarães, just on as part of a triple change, slips White down the right (PA).
- White overlaps into space and stands the cross up to the back post (beIN Sports).
- Gabriel, who had needed treatment ten minutes into the half, is unmarked there.
- He rises and heads into the bottom-left corner on his 200th Premier League appearance.
Twenty shots into a crowded box, and the defenders finished it
- Territory: Arsenal had 58% of the ball, 47 touches in Everton's box to 17 and 20 shots to eight (FotMob). By the 43rd minute they had 12 shots and two on target (ESPN commentary).
- Everton's block: Moyes' 4-2-3-1 sat deep and got bodies in the way. Merino took five shots, four of them blocked (FotMob ratings via SI); Rice, Madueke and Eze also had efforts blocked in the first half (ESPN). Only four of Arsenal's 20 shots were on target.
- Dead balls and the back post: Arsenal won 12 corners to three, and 0.79 of their 1.77 xG on Opta's numbers came from set pieces (Opta Analyst). Both goals came at the far post, the first from Ødegaard's corner and the second from White's cross after an overlap.
- Everton's chances came from Arsenal's errors: White's weak header back gave Barry a one-on-one at 44', and Raya saved. Dewsbury-Hall headed wide from Garner's cross late on. Moyes said his side "just had a couple of lapses" (evertonfc.com).
Tactical scenes
Arsenal's dead balls were their best route all afternoon, not only for the opener. Merino headed off target from a corner at 22' and headed over from Rice's free-kick in first-half stoppage time; Gabriel and Konsa went up for everything.
Evidence: Arsenal won 12 corners to Everton's three (FotMob via SI), and 0.79 of their 1.77 xG came from set pieces on Opta's numbers (Opta Analyst), close to half. Konsa's goal ended a run of 13 games without a set-piece goal (Opta Analyst). Opta Analyst: Arsenal 2-0 Everton stats · FotMob match page
Recreate it in FM26
Arsenal · Arsenal's siege of a deep Everton block · 4-2-3-1Show cardHide card
Arsenal's siege of a deep Everton block
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Raya | Ball-Playing Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper |
| RB | White | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RCB | Konsa | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LCB | Gabriel | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Covering Centre-Back |
| LB | Lewis-Skelly | Full-Back | Full-Back |
| RDM | Rice | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| LDM | Merino | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Defensive Midfielder |
| RW | Madueke | Winger | Tracking Winger |
| AM | Ødegaard | Advanced Playmaker | Tracking Attacking Midfielder |
| LW | Eze | Inside Forward | Winger |
| ST | Gyökeres | Centre Forward | Tracking Centre Forward |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Attacking TransitionPatient Build-Up
- PatienceWork Ball Into Box
- Pass ReceptionOverlapped
- Crossing StyleHigh Crosses
Out of Possession
- Defensive LineHigher
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
- Cross EngagementContest
The idea: A patient 4-2-3-1 that pins the opponent back and then goes to the far post, from corners and from an overlapping full-back. It needs centre-backs who win headers in the other box and a Box-to-Box Midfielder who arrives late.
What FM26 can't copy: Corners are set on FM26's set-piece screens, not as team instructions, and they decided this game.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Dowman on at 60' (for Madueke), Havertz on at 55' (for Gyökeres), not 68'. Keep the 4-2-3-1 and the set-piece plan, but bring a dribbler and a second aerial target on earlier. Arsenal won comfortably; the aim is more open-play shots on target without Saka. It moves Arsenal's win chance from 69% to 72% (xG 1.96–0.63 becomes 2.11–0.63). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer Arsenal needed
Bukayo Saka
Arsenal's right side took the ball into Everton's box often but finished little: Madueke fired wide twice. Saka beats the full-back and creates from the right, the open-play route this game was short of.
Michael Olise
Only four of Arsenal's 20 shots hit the target, and many were blocked on the edge of the box. A left-footed right winger who cuts in to shoot or slide passes through a crowd solves that problem better than more crosses.
What the analysts said
“Gabi is a great example of that, because we were all scared.”Mikel Arteta on Gabriel's injury scare (AFP via Citizen Digital)
“Immediately he says that he wants to continue and then he scores a goal to help us to win the game.”Mikel Arteta (AFP via Citizen Digital)
“I'm sure that's going to unlock something, and that belief of the players”Mikel Arteta on the set-piece goal (AFP via Citizen Digital)
“It's unbelievable to go into a huge club like Arsenal with no pre-season”Mikel Arteta on Konsa (AFP via Citizen Digital)
“We unfortunately lost a goal when we were certainly back in the game at 1-0.”David Moyes (evertonfc.com)
“And for the second one, I think a couple of people turned off for that action.”David Moyes (evertonfc.com)
Arsenal's centre-backs scored the goals their forwards couldn't.
What's happening. Arsenal beat Everton 2–0 in the rain and are level on 21 points with City, who lost at Villa. Saka was out injured. Konsa scored early from a corner and Gabriel headed in White's cross midway through the second half. It was Arsenal's first set-piece goal of the season. They had 20 shots and Everton only got near Raya when Arsenal gave the ball away.
How it works. Everton defended deep with two lines of four and blocked shot after shot from the edge of the box. Against a block like that, the far post is the weak spot: a ball to the back stick asks a full-back or a tired defender to win a header against a centre-back. Arsenal found it twice. The cost of pushing full-backs and centre-backs up is the space behind them, and one loose header from White gave Barry a run at goal.
What the shots say. FotMob has Arsenal well ahead on xG, about three times Everton's total. One reading: a comfortable, deserved win, and the corners that won last season's title are back. The other: much of Arsenal's threat came from dead balls, and in open play only four of 20 shots hit the target without Saka. Both are true. The second matters more at Anfield next week.