Arsenal 2-1 Everton: Barclays Premier League as it happened

That is all we have time for tonight, but check back in with IBTimes UK for all the post-match reaction.

Tomorrow, I will be back to bring you live coverage of the Tyne-Wear derby as well as the small matter of Manchester United v Manchester City, Tottenham's trip to Bournemouth and Liverpool against Southampton at Anfield. Until then, goodnight.

It was certainly nervy and hard-fought, but Arsenal survive to record a fourth straight Premier League victory that sees them elevated to the top of the table prior to tomorrow's Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

Everton battled admirably to keep things interesting, but they remain 10th ahead of their Capital One Cup last 16 meeting with Norwich in midweek.

Full-time

Arsenal 2-1 Everton

Everton are reduced to 10 men at the death as Barry mistimes a 50-50 challenge with Gibbs and Mason produces a second yellow card. He can have no complaints.

Red card: Gareth Barry (Everton)

Everton are at sixes and sevens at the back and a combination of Gibbs and Giroud fail to scramble the ball over the line. A huge sliding challenge from Gabriel then thwarts Lukaku at the other end.

Four minutes of added time signalled after Ozil gets the ball back from Giroud and McCarthy's hesitant defending allows him to bend a shot that hits the base of the post and drifts wide.

Late changes for both teams as Arouna Kone replaces Coleman and Kieran Gibbs comes on for Alexis.

Cech to the rescue for Arsenal as Lukaku's deflected cross finds its way to Deulofeu but the former Chelsea stalwart gets down to make a strong, left-handed save.

He then holds a weaker effort from Mirallas.

Another uncertain moment for Howard as the ball is sent high into the air by the head of Giroud and he struggles to get anywhere near it.

Rather than simply sit deep to protect Arsenal's lead, substitute Flamini is doing his very best to find a third goal as he rifles a shot just wide before heading straight at the goalkeeper from Alexis' great cross.

Half-hearted appeals for an Arsenal penalty as the lightning quick Bellerin cuts inside from the right and falls under persistent pressure from Mirallas. Nothing doing for Mason or his assistant on that far side.

Oxlade-Chamberlain seemed to be in a little bit of discomfort as he trudged off there. Wenger will be hoping that it is nothing serious with Ramsey sidelined for up to four weeks with a hamstring injury.

Wenger finally makes his first change of the evening as combative midfielder Mathieu Flamini is introduced in place of Oxlade-Chamberlain in order to tidy things up in the middle of the park.

Mirallas' shot is blocked before Everton take their turn at hitting the woodwork. Good perseverance from Barkley leads to a deep, left-footed cross from Barry and Lukaku rises highest to beat Koscielny but his header clips the crossbar and goes over.

That should serve as a real warning to Arsenal, who are still yet to make a substitution with just over 10 minutes left to play.

Cazorla is incensed as he is penalised for an awkward foul on Barkley. Deulofeu is then sent sprawling by a trip from Monreal and proceeds to berate the assistant referee despite being awarded a free-kick.

15 minutes remaining and this match is still nicely poised. Can Arsenal find the one goal needed to kill it off, or do Everton have another surprise in store?

Deulofeu occupies the attentions of Monreal and Alexis on the right-hand flank before knocking the ball back to McCarthy, who quickly sends a deep delivery towards the back post.

Arriving late behind Bellerin, Galloway tries to connect with a diving header but the ball flies wide.

Giroud has his name taken for a not-so-subtle trip on Barkley. Lukaku, who has been a passenger for most of this match, appears to be limping.

Super build-up play from Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ozil sees the ball find Giroud. The striker then takes a quick touch before curling a left-footed effort that cannons back off the crossbar with Howard beaten.

Everton survive and respond by replacing Lennon with Kevin Mirallas.

Monreal gives the ball away cheaply deep into his own half and Deulofeu cuts inside with searing pace before allowing the ball to run across to Barkley, whose first-time shot is saved.

A 107th career booking for repeat offender Barry as he gets in a tangle with Alexis and is cautioned for a shirt pull. He was slightly fortunate to get away with a similar foul a few moments ago, as referee Mason is pointing out now.

Arsenal are back in the ascendancy as Ozil volleys at goal following Giroud's knockdown but Howard is equal to it.

Good play from Deulofeu down the right to launch a rare Everton attack. He finds Barkley in the middle, but the 21-year-old is instantly set upon by a swarm of red and white shirts and cannot get the ball out of his feet quickly enough. Arsenal clear following a well-timed tackle from Gabriel.

Deulofeu then goes down rather theatrically after a fair challenge from Monreal, although he does not appeal for a penalty.

Arsenal are beginning to ask serious questions of this Everton defence once again. Bellerin releases Oxlade-Chamberlain with a pass down the right and he whips in a dangerous low cross that Giroud just misses on the slide. Very close.

Howard is called into action once again as Ozil provides a deep cross towards Giroud at the back post. He brings it down for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who returns the ball with a nice little header before the Frenchman controls it with his chest under pressure from Galloway and produces an acrobatic effort that is pushed wide.

A swift counter-attack from Arsenal almost leads to a third goal as Oxlade-Chamberlain exchanges passes with Giroud and bursts forward. The former then tries to slide in Alexis with a low pass beyond Coleman, but Howard races out of his goal to make the sliding challenge.

Cech's handling skills are tested in the difficult conditions as Barkley tees up Coleman and the Irish right-back fires in a shot from distance that is comfortably held.

Jagielka is not going to return here and Martinez sends on summer signing Ramiro Funes Mori in his place. Howard takes the captain's armband for the final 37 minutes.

Concern for Jagielka here as the Everton skipper receives treatment after taking a nasty but entirely accidental whack to the lower leg while clearing under pressure from Oxlade-Chamberlain. Barry is now acting as temporary cover alongside Stones at centre-back.

Arsenal fashion the first shot of the second half as Giroud runs over Ozil's low pass and it runs through to Alexis. Seamus Coleman is unable to block on the slide and Howard is forced into a low stop.

The teams are back out for the second half. Arsenal's set-piece prowess looked to have handed them the most comfortably of victories midway through that first 45, but Barkley's deflected effort should have given an otherwise limited Everton side real hope.

Can they go one better and notch an equaliser? To coin a tired old football cliche, the next goal here will surely be pivotal.

Half-time

Arsenal 2-1 Everton

Not for the first time tonight, Deulofeu is incensed not to have been awarded a free-kick for a light touch to his midriff. The former Barcelona man does go down a little too easily at times.

A relatively pedestrian encounter has now burst into life as Everton reduce the deficit. Barry makes an important block from Oxlade-Chamberlain at the other end before launching a counter-attack that sees Deulofeu sweep the ball across to Barkley on the left.

The England midfielder beats the retreating Oxlade-Chamberlain before hitting a hopeful shot that takes a huge deflection off Gabriel and deceives Cech. Game on.

Goal: Arsenal 2-1 Everton (Ross Barkley)

Two goals in just two minutes for the Gunners as they win a free-kick just outside the penalty area on the left-hand side. Ozil and Cazorla stand over it, but it's the latter who whips an enticing right-footed ball into the six-yard box that Koscielny heads home after running in from behind Jagielka.

Howard ought to be disappointed with his positioning on both of those goals, but Arsenal's delivery has been superb thus far.

Goal: Arsenal 2-0 Everton (Laurent Koscielny)

Arsenal take the lead as Oxlade-Chamberlain feeds Ozil on the left and the German international has plenty of time to step inside and float in an excellent cross thanks to the overlapping run of Bellerin that distracts Lennon.

Peeling off the back of Phil Jagielka, Giroud glances his header into the back of the net with Howard easily beaten.

Goal: Arsenal 1-0 Everton (Olivier Giroud)

Poor defending from Everton in the slippery conditions hands possession back to Alexis on the edge of the penalty area but his shot is wild and fails to trouble Howard.

Lennon gives away a cheap free-kick in his own half as he blocks the run of Alexis. Ozil then floats in an inviting delivery, but Koscielny cannot get his head to the ball.

Martinez has his head in his hands as Everton spurn their first real opportunity of the game. Lennon beats Monreal cutting towards the byline on the left-hand side and Cech makes no attempt to catch the resulting cross and instead parries it out into a dangerous area.

Stones is there to meet it but cannot make sufficient contact and the chance goes begging. 30 minutes gone.

A rare foray forward from the visitors as Galloway's speculative drive is deflected over by Oxlade-Chamberlain after Bellerin's headed clearance only reaches Gareth Barry on the edge of the penalty area.

A first yellow card of the evening is awarded to Coquelin for a sliding challenge on Galloway. A tad harsh, that.

Arsenal have failed to create many chances at all aside from headers at set pieces, but they have been utterly dominant in this first 25 minutes. Everton are defending adequately enough but need to gain some sort of foothold in the game.

Thoroughly isolated, Romelu Lukaku has not had a kick.

Oxlade-Chamberlain makes good inroads into the Everton penalty area but Lennon gets across to make a vital block. From the resulting corner, Ozil finds Gabriel but his header once again is off target.

More neat build-up play from Arsenal comes to nothing as Ozil exchanges passes with Giroud but fails to read the return ball and Everton gain possession.

The rain is teeming down at the Emirates as Aaron Lennon is harshly penalised for a slight push on Coquelin.

Arsenal take the direct route this time as Alexis flights a long ball towards the head of Giroud. The Frenchman wins the aerial battle and Mesut Ozil runs clear before seeing his low shot deflected wide by the legs of Tim Howard.

Unbeknown to him, however, the referee has already blown his whistle for a foul on Stones.

A swift passing move involving Cazorla and Hector Bellerin ends in another corner, but Stones is alert this time to safely clear one more dangerous delivery.

The Gunners are dominating possession early on here and they apply more pressure that leads to a second corner. Cazorla provides another dangerous ball in but Gabriel mistimes his jump and it files harmlessly over the crossbar.

A first chance for Arsenal as Brendan Galloway gives the ball away with a poor touch before conceding a corner with a good recovery challenge. Giroud runs off Gabriel and makes contact with Santi Cazorla's centre but heads wide under pressure from John Stones and James McCarthy.

Not a great deal to report from the opening six minutes. Nacho Monreal had to be alert to block a cross from Deulofeu and Francis Coquelin tried to find Alexis Sanchez at the back post only to overcook his delivery.

Black armbands are being worn by both teams today in memory of Howard Kendall, the legendary former Everton player and manager who passed away last week at the age of 69.

Referee Lee Mason blows his whistle and the first half is underway.

West Ham's 2-1 win over 10-man Chelsea means that Arsenal have temporarily slipped to third before kick-off. The Gunners trail by one point with the same goal difference having of course played one game less.

Everton have dropped to 10th but could rise as high as sixth with three points in north London.

Around 10 minutes remaining until kick-off now.

Attention will turn to Arsenal v Everton very shortly, but for now you can click here to relive all of the action from this afternoon's 15:00 BST Premier League kick-offs.

As for Everton, Roberto Martinez makes one alteration from the side comprehensively beaten by Manchester United at Goodison Park last Saturday. Steven Naismith drops to the bench as Gerard Deulofeu comes in.

Three changes made by Wenger, with Gabriel lining up alongside Laurent Koscielny at centre-back to replace the ill Per Mertesacker. Aaron Ramsey is set to miss up to four weeks with a hamstring injury, so he is replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Olivier Giroud is preferred to rival Theo Walcott up front following his goal in midweek.

Everton: Howard, Coleman, Galloway, Jagielka, Stones, Barry, McCarthy, Lennon, Deulofeu, Barkley, Lukaku

Subs: Joel, Kone, Mirallas, Naismith, Cleverley, Osman, Funes Mori

Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud

Subs: Macey, Debuchy, Gibbs, Chambers, Flamini, Campbell, Walcott

Following consecutive embarrassing Champions League defeats at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiacos, Arsenal should have something of an extra spring in their step this evening following that memorable, last-gasp 2-0 victory over in-form Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Arsene Wenger's side are also putting together a rather nice run domestically at present, with last weekend's routine 3-0 victory over Watford making it three Premier League victories in succession. The Gunners could go top of the league this evening prior to tomorrow's Manchester derby.