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Wayne Rooney watched Arsenal clinch the Premier League's Christmas number one spot with a 1-0 victory over Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Wayne Rooney hailed Arsenal's game management as they clinched the Premier League's Christmas number one spot against Everton. The Gunners secured the three points they needed to return to the top of the table after Manchester City had initially overhauled them earlier in the day.
Viktor Gyokeres' first-half penalty - his first goal in six games - was enough to secure Mikel Arteta's side all three points as Everton shot themselves in the foot. Jake O'Brien needlessly handled Declan Rice's 27th-minute corner, with Gyokeres hammering home the resulting penalty in emphatic fashion.
And Rooney loved what Arsenal's players did in the immediate aftermath of the full-time whistle going at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Speaking on The Wayne Rooney Show, he said: "What I loved about it is at the end of the game, the full-time whistle... The Arsenal players are flat out, lying on their back that you could see they're knackered.
"And as a fan, that's what you want to see from your players. You want to see them, you know, they have given everything to win the game. And the game management towards the end was brilliant."
Arsenal currently find themselves two points clear of City, but England star Bukayo Saka has insisted his side are not letting the emotion of the Premier League title race get to them.
"There's not really any emotions in it," he said. "We take the emotions out. We just know we focus on our job this week, after last week, we focus on coming here and winning.
"We did that today [on Saturday night]. We're back on top of the table, but we're not watching City too much, or the other teams. We're in control now. We know if we win every week, we'll stay there."
On the win, he admitted: "They made it really tough. Also on us to not kill the game in certain moments. Credit to them, it's always tough coming here. We're just happy to get the win in the end.
"I think they have got a good structure and the way that they play with the fans, the players are so passionate, so they give everything. That made it hard for us. We had our chances and we could've killed the game earlier."
While goal-scorer Gyokeres said: "It was a tough game, but it would have been good if we had scored a few more goals, because then you can control it a bit more," the Sweden striker said.
"When it's only 1-0, it can be a bit stressful at times in the end. Of course, we would have liked to convert [more of] those chances we had, but we won in the end, so that's the most important thing.
"It's always a good feeling to win football matches and to be top of the table, but it doesn't mean so much because it's a long way to go and [there are] a lot of games still to play.
"But we still have a lot of games around Christmas, so of course I will enjoy it... but not too much!"
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