Arsenal coach reacts on Instagram as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Edu approve of routine vs Everton

Set pieces were always going to be crucial as Arsenal faced Everton and ultimately one proved to be the difference as Mikel Arteta's side finally ended their Goodison Park hoodoo.

Ahead of this weekend's round of Premier League fixtures, research, as per the Liverpool Echo, highlighted the Toffees as the tallest team across the entire division with an average height of 185cm or 6ft 1in. Considering how this fixture last term unfolded, the Gunners had been warned.

Back in February, a set piece routine proved to be Arsenal's undoing as James Tarkowski rose above Martin Odegaard to head in Dwight McNeil's pin-point delivery from a corner to get the Sean Dyche era off to a dream start and it felt that was Everton's gameplan on Sunday afternoon.

With a clear advantage to win their individual aerial battles more often than not and amid further calculations that stated Everton were second for defensive duels won so far (18) in the Premier League this season before facing the Gunners, it was down to Mikel Arteta and his set-piece coach Nicolas Jover to devise a plan to avoid being exposed.

And to their credit, they did as it was noticeable throughout the game that the north London outfit opted for short corners. After many attempts, this is how their goal came about when the ball eventually fell to Leandro Trossard who found the back of the net with an impressive finish.

Now, the manner of the goal prompted a query from Gary Neville — who was on co-commentary duty for Sky Sports at Goodison Park — as he spotted exactly how the Arsenal players executed the set-piece routine to perfection.

«I just asked how long that ball was in the corner for and apparently it took 26 seconds to take that short corner,» he said. «Which is an absolute