JAKARTA - Arsenal only managed to win 1-0 over Everton through a penalty from striker Viktor Gyokeres in the English Premier League match at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, Sunday, December 21, 2025 WIB. This victory was enough for Arsenal to return to the top of the standings.
The competition for the throne of the standings is still tight until the turn of the year. Manchester City briefly occupied the top position after defeating West Ham United 3-0 at the Etihad.
However, Man City was only in that position for a few hours. Arsenal has taken it back after defeating Everton with a single goal from Gyokeres. The result extended Arsenal's record of 18 victories in various competitions.
The victory also gave Arsenal 39 points. The competition remains fierce because they are only two points ahead of Man City who returned to second place.
Meanwhile, Everton is still in the middle of the table after suffering two consecutive defeats. The failure to score points at home makes The Toffees still get 24 points and occupy the 10th position.
In that match, Arsenal visited Everton's home with high confidence. How not, The Gunners showed consistency in the previous match by defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1.
They also beat Club Brugge 3-0 in the Champions League. Even though they have qualified for the last 16 in the Champions League, Arsenal still played solid and performed optimally to conquer Brugge.
Likewise, when Arsenal entered the festival period. When the competition in the English League forced the teams to play with a busy schedule during Christmas and New Year, Arsenal started well.
However, Mikel Arteta's team was under pressure for the first 10 minutes. Everton's offensive game was able to trouble Arsenal's defense. However, the North London club's back line was solid enough and was able to overcome the pressure from the hosts.
Next, Mikel Arteta's troops can also play openly and keep up with the opponent's game. In fact, Arsenal should have got a penalty when Gyokeres was brought down while receiving a cross from Bukayo Saka. However, the referee let the incident go and only gave Arsenal a corner kick.
This corner became a momentum for Arsenal. When the ball headed towards the goal that created a mess, defender Jake O'Brien actually wanted to throw the ball. But the ball actually hit his arm. Referee Samuel Barrott even reviewed the incident via VAR.
As a result, O'Brien was still declared handball and the referee pointed to the white spot. The penalty was not taken by Saka as usual but Gyokeres. He also finished the penalty after goalkeeper Jordan Pickford moved in the wrong direction and gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute.
The goal lifted the spirits of the Arsenal players. They went back to playing offensively but no goals were created. The score remained until the first half ended.
Entering the second half, Arsenal's attacking game did not change. However, Everton also did not want to lose points so they continued to play openly.
Even the hosts had the chance to get a penalty when striker Thierno Barry was brought down by defender Piero Hincapie in the 57th minute.
The referee did review the incident via VAR. The result, the incident was judged to have occurred outside the penalty area so the referee gave a free kick. Barrott's decision made manager David Moyes look disappointed.
They failed to get a good chance to equalize. Moreover, Everton still struggled to break Arsenal's goal so that the score of 1-0 remained until the end of the match.
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