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Arsenal finally won a game on the road in the Premier League this season as they thrashed Everton 5-2 at Goodison Park on Sunday. Although Wayne Rooney had opened the scoring for the Toffees, a second-half Gunners comeback after Everton were reduced to 10 men saw Arsene Wenger celebrate his 68th birthday with three points in the bag.
Goals from Nacho Monreal, Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette, Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez consigned Everton to the relegation zone. After spending nearly £150m this summer, Ronald Koeman's side are now 18th in the table.
Here are the major talking points from the game.
#1 Arsene Wenger finally starts Ozil, Alexis AND Lacazette together
They cost Arsenal a total of £118.5m to lead the front-line. But it took Arsene Wenger until the end of October to finally start the trio of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alexandre Lacazette together.
In every game so far, either one of Ozil or Alexis have missed out due to injury or the player being rested while other games saw one come on as a substitute for the other. But at Goodison Park, they showed fans exactly why they should be starting together henceforth.
Arsenal's movement off the ball in and around the final third has never been smoother this season than it was against Ronald Koeman's side.
Their pass-and-move strategy saw Everton's back-three struggle to mark them and Lacazette not only found himself in a lot of space to receive the ball but also had the time to bring his teammates into play.
Koeman's back-three was supposed to mirror Arsenal and there were concerns that the game would end in a stalemate. But looking at the ease with which they were carved open, it came as no surprise to see Ozil, Alexis and Lacazette get on the score sheet.
#2 Wayne Rooney extends his goal scoring streak against Arsenal
"Remember the name! Wayne Rooney!"
It's a name Arsenal fans would love to forget. Back when he was a teenager at Everton, Rooney had ended the Gunners' 30-match unbeaten run with a screamer that led to commentator Clive Tyldesley screaming those words in excitement.
That was in October 2002. Nearly 15 years to the day, Rooney found himself on the score sheet yet again against Arsenal in the blue Everton kit. Pouncing on an error from Per Mertesacker and Granit Xhaka, Rooney received the ball outside the box and saw Petr Cech off his line.
The former England international picked his spot and let fly a shot that sailed past the flailing arms of Cech to find the top corner. No player has scored more Premier League goals against Arsenal than Rooney.
Everybody assumed his career was virtually over following his return to Goodison Park. But the former Manchester United forward has already scored four Premier League goals this season.
He only scored five in 2016/17 for the Red Devils.
#3 Mesut Ozil silences his critics
Speculation has been rife about Mesut Ozil's possible exit from Arsenal - even as early as the January transfer window. Understandably, Arsenal fans did not take it lightly, especially because he is linked with a reunion with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United.
But Ozil responded on Twitter with six simple words before a Man of the Match performance at Goodison Park.
The German playmaker was in fine form as the game wore on and created a number of chances for Alexis and Lacazette. A through-ball here, a first-time pass there... He looked unstoppable and Koeman's side struggled to pick midfield runners with Aaron Ramsey also occupying their defenders.
Ozil also managed to get on the score sheet with a sublime header against an in-form Jordan Pickford. The goalkeeper had a terrific first half before he was let down by his defence and Ozil's run and header took the wind out of their sails.
The ease with which he linked up with Lacazette and Alexis gives Arsenal and Wenger a lot of hope for the immediate future. By the time he was substituted, he was setting the benchmark in the Premier League with respect to chances created.
No player has more assists in England's top flight since his 2013 debut either (43 assists). But can he deliver more consistently now?
#4 Ronald Koeman gets his tactics horribly wrong
Everton have been deployed in every possible formation in the Premier League this season - be it a back-three or a back-four as Koeman attempted to shoehorn his new signings into the XI. The squad is bursting at the seams with no.10s and the starting lineup against Arsenal saw him make his first big mistake.
The Toffees were initially deployed in a back-three but he started both Wayne Rooney and Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front. Gylfi Sigurdsson took up the playmaker's mantle but the midfield was a gaping hole with just Idrissa Gueye taking on Arsenal's midfield by himself.
Gueye initially held his own before succumbing to Arsenal's relentless and quick one-touch passing. When Koeman switched to a back-four in the second half by withdrawing Ashley Williams (because he was on a yellow card and struggling against Lacazette), it made things more difficult for Gueye as both Tom Davies and Nikola Vlasic poured forward in search of an equaliser.
The result? Gueye, who was walking a fine line after a booking, eventually received his second booking and reduced Everton to 10 men. Arsenal never looked more comfortable following the red card, scoring twice and never giving the home side a sniff of goal - until Oumar Niasse pounced on a terrible back-pass in stoppage time, of course.
#5 Granit Xhaka still has work to do
Although the scoreline makes it look like Arsenal dominated the game, there are still problems at the back that will concern Arsene Wenger. This was the Gunners' first away win of the season in the Premier League but they looked far from comfortable in certain stages against a diabolical Everton side.
Granit Xhaka's role is still not clearly defined at Arsenal. He is effectively their 'defensive' midfielder, what with his partner Aaron Ramsey tasked with making attacking runs. However, Xhaka needs to improve on his positioning when the Gunners are under pressure.
Off the ball, Xhaka sometimes finds himself in the wrong position when he should be the first player to receive the pass from the centre-backs. This was something Everton focused on and his lack of movement and positioning saw him concede possession which ultimately led to Rooney's goal.
Xhaka has also been given too much freedom to shoot from distance. While the fans always urge him to fire one from distance when he has some space, it isn't ideal unless he gets his shot on target.
On this occasion, it worked as Pickford only managed to deflect the shot away with Nacho Monreal pouncing on the rebound. But there are times when he is nowhere close to the target and it is something he will need to work on if he is to add a booming strike on goal to his repertoire.
Also read: Twitter reacts after Arsenal thrash Everton 5-2
