Arsenal manager Unai Emery has admitted that he is surprised by the ongoing criticism towards goalkeeper Petr Cech. The 36-year-old was widely tipped to be replaced by Bernd Leno between the sticks this term but so far, the Gunners head coach has placed his confidence in the veteran which has paid off.

Speaking after Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton, Emery said that he is little surprised by the question marks regarding Cech’s ability, given the shot-stopper has been in good form since the season kick-started, he said: “I’m a little surprised because there have been a lot of questions over Cech. In pre-season and also in the first (league) matches with us, he’s played with good performances. Bernd Leno will also improve with us and learn about this competition here. Petr has big experience and big quality. He’s started the season very well and we think he’s giving us the performance we want. Today he showed us that he’s very good and continuing to work hard with this spirit every day.”

Cech begun the season with two back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea and during this period, he happened to struggle with his distribution from the back which created nervous moments in the Gunners defence. However, the former Czech international has since improved his performances game by game and Sunday witnessed him secure his first clean sheet of the campaign.

Like the previous games, the Gunners backline was once again vulnerable with the Toffees getting a number of attempts on target but Cech was on guard to restrict them with a couple of key one-of-one saves against Theo Walcott and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The victory has ensured that the Gunners have remained unbeaten for four successive league games and they are now up to sixth in the standings with 12 points.