Malo Gusto may have taken many of the plaudits after his all-action showing against Everton but he was quick to hail the centre-back partnership of Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah following the game.
Gusto may have been listed as right-back in the pre-match graphic but he spent most of his time inverting into central midfield alongside Reece James.
From there, he produced the stunning pass which released Cole Palmer for the opening goal and then before the first half was up, he started and finished a slick counter-attack to make it 2-0.
It was our first win in five matches after the impressive performance in our draw with Arsenal was followed by disappointing defeats to Leeds United and Atalanta, with a draw against Bournemouth sandwiched in-between.
‘I am very happy today,' Gusto said immediately after the match. 'It was very important that we got back to winning ways and with a clean sheet, it couldn’t have gone much better so we are pleased.’
The 2-0 win over Everton was our eighth clean sheet from 16 matches this season - no team in the Premier League has done so more.
It is ten clean sheets in all competition and while Chalobah has been in our defence for all of them, five have come in the last six weeks since Fofana's return to full fitness.
Both Chalobah and Fofana were outstanding against Everton and their passion for defending was clear to see, as several tackles and blocks were celebrated as if they were goals.
'We know how important it is to defend properly in the Premier League and to try to not concede,' Gusto said. 'We did that tonight so I am very proud of the team performance.’
When asked if he felt the stability alongside Chalobah and Fofana, Gusto replied: ‘Yes, of course. They are top defenders, and it is great for us to see these kinds of performances.
‘They help us a lot, they are very strong at the back and they help us to build as well. It takes a whole team to build and we train to do that every day and tonight we played well so the coach will be happy.’
Our win yesterday moved us back into the top four, two points above fifth-place Crystal Palace, who host Manchester City (second) this afternoon, and within two points of Villa in third - they travel to West Ham at the same time.
On whether the team had been talking about the top four, Gusto added: ‘Even more after the last three games. We didn’t get the three points then so that was the main objective for today and it is objective done so all good.’