Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, October 24, 2026, in Matchweek 8 of the Premier League, with goals from an unlikely pair of scorers pushing the Gunners level on points with leaders Manchester City. Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta got the best of former boss David Moyes as defenders scored the goals in a 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday in Week 8 of the 2026-27 season.
Center Backs Do the Damage
It was Ezri Konsa who broke the deadlock inside the opening ten minutes. Ezri Konsa poked in at the back post from a corner to score a scrappy first goal for the club to end Arsenal's wait for a first set-piece goal of the season, finishing off a delivery that traced back to Viktor Gyökeres.
Gabriel Magalhães doubled the lead midway through the second half, heading home on a landmark afternoon. Gabriel overcame a second-half injury scare to seal the victory with a header on his 200th Premier League appearance for the club, capping an afternoon in which Arsenal's two center backs did all the scoring between them.
Arsenal Capitalize on Manchester City's Slip-Up
The timing could not have been better for Arsenal. Champions Arsenal capitalised on Manchester City's defeat at Aston Villa to move level on points with the Premier League leaders, picking up a seventh win from their first eight league matches to keep up with their rivals on 21 points, behind only on goal difference. City's loss, detailed in our coverage of Nicolas Jackson's brace at Villa Park, ended their perfect start to the season.
Arsenal had to do it without their talisman. Arsenal were without Bukayo Saka and got goals from center backs Ezri Konsa and Gabriel Magalhaes to improve their record to 7-0-1, behind Man City on goal differential atop the table. The win also extended an already lopsided head-to-head: Everton are winless in 14 league trips to Arsenal.
Gyökeres Making His Case
Handed a rare opportunity from the start, Viktor Gyökeres showed signs of justifying his place in the side even without finding the net himself. Viktor Gyokeres, handed his first league start of the season, failed to get off the mark for the campaign but was credited with the assist for Konsa's opener, making it two from two after setting up Declan Rice's equaliser in the 2-2 Champions League draw at Bayern Munich in midweek. With a congested run of fixtures ahead, including upcoming Champions League meetings, Arteta will be hoping the Swedish forward keeps contributing even while he searches for his first league goal of the season.
The Premier League Table After the Weekend's Early Games
The Title Picture
Manchester City remain top on goal difference despite the defeat at Villa Park, with Arsenal breathing down their necks after a run that has yielded seven wins and just a single loss in eight matches. Behind the top two, Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea occupy the rest of the Champions League places, while Liverpool's recent meeting with City is a reminder of how tight the chasing pack remains heading into the second half of October.
The Bottom of the Table
At the other end, Fulham sit in the relegation zone after a difficult start to the campaign, joined by Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth in the bottom three heading into the weekend's remaining fixtures. Everton's defeat leaves David Moyes' side still searching for consistency in mid-table, with work to do before the Toffees can look upward rather than over their shoulder.
What's Next
Arsenal will look to carry their momentum into a demanding stretch of Champions League and Premier League fixtures, while Everton will aim to bounce back on home soil. For a league with as competitive a top four as this one, every weekend now feels pivotal to the destination of the title, a point reinforced by Arsenal's response here just hours after City's shock result in the West Midlands.