Arsenal took a giant stride towards their first Premier League title in 22 years on Saturday evening, grinding out a late 2-0 victory over Everton at the Emirates Stadium that opened up a nine-point lead over Manchester City — who simultaneously dropped points at West Ham. The night will forever be remembered not just for the three precious points, but for the moment a 16-year-old named Max Dowman wrote himself into football history.
For long stretches of this match, however, Arsenal looked anything but champions in waiting. Everton arrived at the Emirates in fine form, unbeaten in their previous six away league games, and they more than matched their hosts for large portions of the contest. Dwight McNeil struck the crossbar from 25 yards in the first half after a slick Iliman Ndiaye move, and it was the Toffees who had the better chances at the halfway point despite Arsenal dominating possession with 65 per cent of the ball.
Mikel Arteta was visibly anxious on the touchline — at one point removing his jacket with ten minutes to go — but he had made the substitutions that would ultimately prove decisive. Viktor Gyökeres and young Max Dowman came on in the 62nd minute, and both would leave their mark on the game in dramatic fashion.
The breakthrough came in the 89th minute and owed much to a calamitous error from Jordan Pickford. Dowman whipped a cross towards the back post and Pickford charged out recklessly, failing to claim it. The ball struck Piero Hincapie and dropped perfectly for Gyökeres to tap home the simplest goal of his season — but undoubtedly the most important.
What followed in the seventh minute of stoppage time was the stuff of pure fairy tale. Pickford, desperately chasing the game, had come up for an Everton corner. Arsenal cleared, the ball found Dowman 75 yards from goal, and the teenager simply ran — and ran — until he reached the empty net and rolled the ball home to become the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history, breaking a record that had stood for over 20 years. The Emirates erupted. Arteta leapt from his technical area in pure joy.
Arsenal were not at their best on Saturday — they created just one big chance in open play and Everton's expected goals figure was actually higher. But title-winning teams find ways to win ugly, and this Arsenal side has that quality in abundance. With City dropping points simultaneously at the London Stadium, the gap at the top is now nine points with nine games to play. The dream is very much alive.
