Unai Emery admits he has been surprised by the criticism aimed at Petr Cech in recent weeks as the Arsenal goalkeeper put in a man of the match performance in Sunday's Premier League win over Everton.

Second-half strikes from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were enough for the Gunners to secure a 2-0 victory, their fourth in a row in the league.

Everton will feel hard done by to leave the Emirates Stadium with nothing to show for a decent performance – and not only because Aubameyang's goal came from an offside position.

The visitors dominated the first half, with Cech forced to make a number of decent stops to keep out the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lucas Digne and Richarlison – who looked sharp on his return from suspension.

Cech, 36, has captained Arsenal in all of their Premier League games since Emery took charge but has not been without his critics as he adapts to playing the ball out from the back.

Asked if he was intending to substitute Lacazette, the Arsenal head coach replied: "I don't think it's important, but maybe yes! Football is like that.

"We needed to change something in this moment to give us another individual quality on the pitch. Then we scored the goal and I decided to stop it and think again about who we need next."

While Arsenal continue to build under Emery, Marco Silva's start to life at Goodison Park remains a slow one.

Everton have just one league win to their name under the Portuguese – who was left bemoaning the decision not to rule out Aubameyang's effort following a strong display from the Toffees.

"It is a disappointing result and didn't reflect the performances of the two teams – but that is football," he said.

"It was really frustrating. We had just one player in our box and it was three against one and it was clear where our defender was and where the goalscorer was.

"It was a mistake by the assistant referee but we can all make mistakes. That made it really hard for us.

"VAR would help but I understand they are trying to find the best way to introduce it maybe by next season."