Arsenal underlined their champion credentials with a thumping win over Everton that left Sean Dyche admitting “you saw why they’re top of the league in the second half.”
The Gunners hit four past Everton, who remain in the bottom three. Mikel Arteta's side have now opened up a five point lead at the top of the Premier League thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, a brace from Gabriel Martinelli and one from skipper Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal turned on the class in the second half as they made it three wins on the spin to continue their push for a first title since 2004. Few, if any, expected them to challenge this term but Dyche, who had already masterminded an Everton victory over them, was left mightily impressed.
He said: "Second half they showed what a side they are. I said to my players, 'what you've got to remember is it's not just about their ability'. At the end they're closing down, they're pressing, they save one off the line because they're throwing bodies at it.
"That's what wins titles. That's the feeling of a group that wins titles. I'm not saying they've won it by any means, Man City are fantastic but you look at their work ethic."
Mikel Arteta had to watch his side start in slow fashion before Saka scored the opener. Arsenal's second before half-time allowed them to take control of the contest, just weeks after they'd been shocked by the Toffees on Merseyside.
The Gunners boss said: "I’m really happy. It was a game that we had in hand against an opponent that we knew was going to make life really difficult for us and we expected that at Goodison. We started the game with some frustration and not really understanding what we had to do, allowing them to run in certain transitions, but after 25 minutes I think we start to get much better and the timing of the two goals was key."
Have your say! Will Arsenal win the Premier League title? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.
Arteta, who is in the midst of his first title charge as a manager, has been key to play down their lofty league position throughout the year. He is trying to hold off his mentor Pep Guardiola with Manchester City eyeing a third straight league win and Arteta is refusing to give his team the favourites tag.
He said: "What I like is that everybody has the enthusiasm to do it, and we’re not going to stop that - we have to promote that but the way to promote that is by looking at this game and understanding that we have to do a lot of things better, especially in the first half. We can play better and make sure we prepare really well against Bournemouth because that’s going to be a tough game.
The Spaniard also added: "I think we are here because we work how we work and we have really good players, and we have an incredible connection with our people so everything adds to the table and we have to continue to do that."
Arsenal's next assignment is a clash with Bournemouth at the Emirates before they turn their focus to European action once more. There are 13 games remaining this term but the Gunners do not play a league match outside of London until April.
