Phil Jagielka's early goal was enough for Everton to deal a massive blow to Arsenal's top-four ambitions at Goodison Park.
Everton have now won three successive games in the Premier League after an impressive victory over the Gunners.
The Toffees have now climbed above Watford, who play in the FA Cup semi-final today, up into ninth.
Match-winner, Jagielka, wasn't originally going to start - but Michael Keane injured himself in the warm-up, forcing Everton to opt with the former England international.
A long throw-in, just 10 minutes in, landed to Jagielka, who nodded on to Dominic Calvert-Lewin but Sead Kolasinac blocked his header, before the ball fell to the defender again and he buried this chance.
It was Jagielka's first league goal in over two years for Everton - whose confidence was evident in the opening stages of the match.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos was booked in the 25th minute for a foul on Calvert-Lewin, meaning he will miss the next two games due to a 10th yellow card of the season.
At half-time, Unai Emery was forced into a double-change, with Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang coming on.
Ramsey made an immediate impact on Merseyside, but his volley went narrowly over the crossbar for the Gunners.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was quiet for most of the game, but came extremely close to levelling the match for Arsenal, sending the ball a matter of inches wide of the post.
The last 10 minutes of the game didn't produce many chances - but there was an intense moment following a Shokdran Mustafi foul.
The Germany defender caught Calvert-Lewin right next to the two dugouts, which inflicted a confrontation between the two dugouts and a launched coat from Mesut Ozil on the bench.
But Everton held on to a massive victory and the pressure that was on Marco Silva has seemingly passed away now.
THE MANAGERS
Everton boss Marco Silva: "The fans can be the key for us, we have to give them what they expect. I came to a big club like Everton to give our fans what they deserve. It is a matter of keep working to achieve what we want."
Comments