Vermaelen happy Arsenal not relying on Van Persie

Vermaelen's first half goal was enough to secure three points despite the Toffees' success in keeping Van Persie off of the scoresheet. The Belgian defender feels that Arsenal are a better side when they do not rely too heavily on their captain. "I think it's good for the team that other players score as well," Vermaelen told Sky Sports. "It doesn't matter who scores, of course. "I'm happy for myself to have scored the winner twice. But I'm pleased with the mentality that the team has shown in the last few weeks and that's even more important I think. That's why we win these games." Vermaelen was delighted to see Arsenal take three points to jump to third in the Premier League, but played down the importance of overtaking the Gunners' fierce rivals. "Man City and Tottenham both lost here so we knew it would be hard to play here and I think it was a great result we won here 1-0," Vermaelen insisted. "In the first half, in the beginning, we were better. We had a few chances I think. "But in the second half we had to fight for the three points because Everton were playing the long ball and we had fight in the air all the time and I think we did well as a team and we could keep a clean sheet. "I think it's important we go for the top four and maybe the top three. We don't look at Tottenham, we only look at ourselves. That's most important."