Just three days after the League Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Crystal Palace, the two teams met again – this time in the league. And once again, the Gunners emerged victorious thanks to Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal and Crystal Palace met just three days earlier in the League Cup quarter-finals – the Gunners won that game 3-2 thanks to three goals from Gabriel Jesus. Mikel Arteta made seven changes from that lineup. Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel, Saliba, Havertz, Ödegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Saka started in place of Kiwior, Tierney, Nwaneri, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling and Trossard.
Oliver Glasner made just three changes to the Eagles lineup. Richards started for Chalobah in the back three. Clyne replaced Kporha on the right wing and former Frankfurt player Kamada started in attacking midfield instead of Eze.
A frantic start
The game got off to a furious start. In the sixth minute, Arsenal took the lead with their first shot on target – Gabriel Jesus was, of course, the scorer. But it didn’t take long for Crystal Palace to recover from the setback. In the 11th minute, Sarr went into the box from the left and then curled a beautiful shot with his right foot into the far corner – the equalizer.
But the wild opening phase was not over yet: just three minutes later, Thomas served Gabriel Jesus after a corner, who put the ball from the right in the penalty area in the top right corner of the goal. Arsenal were leading again and Gabriel Jesus scored his fifth goal in the last three days against the Eagles.
Mateta misses the equalizer
In the 21st minute, Crystal Palace could have equalized again. After a mistake by Saliba, Mateta was suddenly through, but he was stopped by a strong Raya save. After that, the game was fairly even with not many chances. In the 37th minute, it was another corner that led to an Arsenal chance. Gabriel headed the ball against the crossbar.
Just a minute later, it was 3:1 anyway, because Gabriel Jesus headed powerfully towards the goal after a cross from Gabriel Martinelli. The ball only hit the left post, but Havertz showed good judgment, was in exactly the right place and pushed the ball over the line to make it 3:1 at half-time.
Die Gunners sind eiskalt
At the start of the second half, Crystal Palace were very close to scoring: in the 47th minute, Sarr headed wide. And in the 53rd minute, the Arsenal keeper allowed a shot from Mateta to rebound off the front of the net, giving Sarr another headed chance. But he put the ball into the arms of Raya.’
The Gunners punished that just seven minutes later. After a cross from Trossard, Gabriel Jesus should have scored his third goal, but he shot straight at Henderson from close range. The ball ended up with Rice, who shot on the rebound towards goal. Gabriel Martinelli was in the path of the shot and turned the ball into the net to make it 4-1.
After that, the game was over. There was another unpleasant scene in midfield where Clyne could have been sent off: the Englishman kicked substitute Calafiori full on the ankle. However, the referee only showed him a yellow card and the VAR did not intervene either. Fortunately, Calafiori was able to continue playing.
Arsenal stay in touch with the top – Palace remain in the basement
Rice put the final point on the board in the 84th minute. He curled the ball from the left corner of the box into the far corner with his left foot. The goal to make it 5-1 was a mirror image of Sarr’s goal to make it 1-1.
That was the end of it. Arsenal’s victory was fully deserved, but it was too high because the Gunners turned almost every chance into a goal. Crystal Palace did not have much to blame themselves for after a decent performance, except for not taking their own chances. The win keeps Arsenal in touch with the leaders, while Crystal Palace remain in the bottom half of the table.
Arsenal play again on Friday at 9:15 p.m. at home against Ipswich. Crystal Palace play on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Bournemouth.
