CARLO SHOCKED TO BE A TOP-FOUR HIT
EVEN Carlo Ancelotti is surprised to see Everton climbing so high up the table.
After their victory over Arsenal, the Toffees will be in the top four at Christmas for the first time since 2005 – when they last qualified for the Champions League.
The Blues started the season on fire before a dip in results saw them slide down the league. Yet now they have won their last three, against Chelsea, Leicester and the Gunners.
Ancelotti (below, right) said: “I didn’t think, honestly, that we would be in this position. That means the job the players are doing is fantastic.
“We had problems, we had injuries, as all the other teams have. We had difficult moments but we were able to adapt to these things and honestly we deserve to be there because the job my players are doing is really good.”
Everton took the lead here in the 22nd minute as former Gunners winger Alex Iwobi swung in a cross which Dominic Calvert-Lewin diverted home off Rob Holding (top).
They gifted Arsenal a way back into the game when Toffees midfielder Tom Davies clumsily took down Ainsley Maitland-Niles in the area and Nicolas Pepe slid home the spot-kick.
But Yerry Mina’s header (above) from a Gylfi Sigurdsson corner just before half-time proved to be the winner.
And it now means that Everton are not only thinking that qualification for the Champions League is possible this campaign, it is their main motivation.
Ancelotti said: “What can I say? To arrive at the end of the season in the top four will be really complicated.
“We are together to compete for the European positions and we are now in the top four.
“The season is long but we need to have the ambition – the ambition helps us to have the motivation.”
EVERTON: Pickford 6, Holgate 7, Mina 8, Keane 7, Godfrey 8 (MOTM), Sigurdsson 7, Doucoure 7, Davies 6, Iwobi 7 (Coleman 82), Calvert-Lewin 8 (Tosun 90), Richarlison 7 (Kenny 90)
ARSENAL: Leno 6, Holding 5, Luiz 5, Tierney 7, Maitland-Niles 7, Elneny 6 (Willock 64, 6), Ceballos 5, Saka 6, Pepe 5 (Martinelli 71, 5), Nketiah 5 (Lacazette 76, 5), Willian 5 2 Arsenal 1