Arsenal 5-1 Everton: Aaron Ramsey scores hat-trick in comfortable win

Arsenal 5-1 Everton

Aaron Ramsey scored a first career hat-trick and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted on his debut as Arsenal eased past Everton 5-1 at the Emirates on Saturday.

Ramsey scored twice in the opening 20 minutes (6,19), either side of a headed goal from Laurent Koscielny (14).

Arsenal’s club-record signing Aubameyang made it 4-0 with a clever chipped finish in the 37th minute, even though he was clearly in an offside position.

Player ratings

Arsenal: Cech (6), Bellerin (7), Koscielny (8), Mustafi (7), Monreal (7), Ramsey (9), Xhaka (7), Iwobi (7), Ozil (7), Mkhitaryan (8), Aubameyang (7)

Subs: Ospina (5), Wilshere (5), Kolasinac (6)

Everton: Pickford (4), Kenny (4), Mangala (3), Williams (4), Keane (3), Martina (4), Gueye (4), Schneiderlin (4), Walcott (5), Niasse (5), Bolasie (5)

Subs: Tosun (5), Calvert-Lewin (6), Davies (5)

Man of the match: Aaron Ramsey

Everton did improve in the second half and managed to pull a goal back through substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin (64), but the hosts had the final say as Ramsey completed his hat-trick in the 74th minute, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan providing his third assist of the game.

The result was the perfect response for Arsenal after their midweek defeat to Swansea, and belied comments from Sam Allardyce on Friday that the Gunners were “defensively weak”.

Instead it was Everton who struggled defensively, particularly in the first half when their back three – which included new signing Eliaquim Mangala – was regularly exposed and caught out of position.

Ramsey opened the scoring in the sixth minute, finishing from close range after Mkhitaryan crossed into the middle. Mkhitaryan then shot narrowly wide from 25 yards before Koscielny stooped to head in from a corner.

Ramsey was given too much space to fire in a deflected shot in the 19th minute as Arsenal continued to dominate.

Theo Walcott was denied a goal on his return to the Emirates by a brilliant block from Mustafi before Aubameyang was played through on goal but saw his shot saved by Jordan Pickford.

Aubameyang did finish a few minutes later, cutely chipping over the goalkeeper from Mkhitaryan’s pass, although he was a few yards offside.

Team news

January signings Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan both started for Arsenal with Lacazette dropping to the bench. Ramsey replaced Wilshere in midfield.

Mangala made his debut after signing from Manchester City on Deadline Day, while Rooney, Tosun and Sigurdsson started on the bench.

Nacho Monreal hit the bar from a corner before half-time and saw a shot deflected wide as Arsenal pressed for more goals.

The Gunners’ level did drop after the break, though, and Oumar Niasse hit the post from Walcott’s excellent cross before Calvert-Lewin headed in to make it 4-1 in the 64th minute.

But, even though Petr Cech was forced off with injury, Arsenal managed to have the final say as Mkhitaryan won the ball on the right side and crossed for Ramsey to sweep home and complete his hat-trick.

Opta stats

Arsenal v Everton is the highest scoring fixture in Premier League history (151 goals), with Arsenal’s 105 against the Toffees a record for one team against another in the competition.
The Gunners have beaten Everton 96 times in league competition, more than one side has ever beaten another in Football League history.
Aaron Ramsey became the 20th player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Arsenal, more than any other team can boast in the competition.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang became the eighth player to score on his first Premier League appearance for Arsenal, after Steve Bould, Kevin Campbell, Freddie Ljungberg, Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermaelen and Alexandre Lacazette.
All three of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s chances created for Arsenal have been converted. Indeed, he became the first Arsenal player to record three assists in a Premier League game since Santi Cazorla vs Wigan in May 2013 (4).

Sam Allardyce: “None of our first XI in the first half played anywhere near their best and that is why we were tumbling goals left, right and centre with our pathetic performance. None of it was any good. We got better in the second half but far too late…all the team played crap.”

Man of the match – Aaron Ramsey

Mkhitaryan came close to taking the honours after a fine all-around display, but Ramsey was the star of the show.

He got the ball rolling with the opening goal and then fired in to make it 3-0. He remained involved in the midfield throughout and confidently swept in to secure his hat-trick.