Arsenal hammer Everton 4-0, go five points clear of Manchester City

Arsenal took another step toward winning their first Premier League title since 2004, as they hammered Everton 4-0 at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

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The victory not only sends Arsenal (60 points) five points clear of two-time defending champions Manchester City, but also realigns the two sides (finally) on the same number of games played (25). The Gunners must still go to Etihad Stadium on April 26, with a chance to avenge one of their three Premier League defeats this season.

Everton (21 points), meanwhile, remain 18th in the table, still stuck in the relegation zone after back-to-back defeats and just one win (and one goal scored) since beating Arsenal on Sean Dyche’s debut on Feb. 4.

WATCH ARSENAL vs EVERTON FULL MATCH REPLAY

Arsenal took all of three shots in the first, as they went 35 minutes without a single effort in the general direction of Everton’s goal, let alone on goal. Sure, they had 70 percent of possession, but Dyche’s team did what Dyche’s teams do. So the Gunners kept passing, probing and pressing, and Saka was decisive and ruthless when finally, in the 40th minute, Oleksandr Zinchenko found the magical ball into the box.

Six minutes later, in first-half stoppage time, Saka once again wreaked havoc as Idrissa Gueye lazily walked the ball back toward his own goal, winning it back and send Martinelli through to beat Jordan Pickford one-on-one. In six minutes’ time, the Gunners answered so many questions about their title-winning credentials, their maturity and self-belief to stay the course in challenging times.

Commentator Peter Drury said it best, after Martinelli put home goal no. 4: “There is a gorgeous arrogance about Arsenal now.”

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