- Alexandre Lacazette opened the scoring after 56 minutes with a sublime curling finish into the top corner
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled their lead from close range just minutes later from an offside position
-Defeat continued Everton's poor away form in the league and they now have just three wins in their last 30
So it turned out that the pattern of this game was set within the opening two minutes. Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin was played clear on goal but was denied by Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech when he should have scored or at least passed to a better placed team-mate.
At the time it seemed a little careless but also forgivable. It looked as though the young forward was simply caught a little cold by such an early opportunity. It happens.
Sadly for Everton, it turned out that the miss was the opening act of a depressing and ultimately damaging pattern. The better team for periods of this game, Marco Silva's side played with ambition and enterprise but when it came to scoring goals fell well short.
By full-time, Everton had created half a dozen good chances and Cech had saved them all. The Arsenal goalkeeper deserves credit for that but at the same time he shouldn't have been given a prayer with some of them.
So it was always likely that Everton would pay a heavy price against an Arsenal team that is not yet thoroughly convincing but remains capable of hurting teams.
Sure enough, two goals in three second half minutes eventually earned Arsenal the win and it was fitting that they came from two forwards in whom Arsenal have invested in the region of £100m.
Everton continue to suffer from the fact they have never adequately replaced striker Romelu Lukaku, sold for big money to Manchester United in 2017. Arsenal have at least given it a go in that regard and here it was Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who scored the goals that eventually separated these teams.