Five-star Arsenal thrash Palace to move three points off top

Arsenal moved three points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool as Gabriel Jesus inspired them to a 5-1 London derby thrashing of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

After his hat-trick sunk the Eagles in the Carabao Cup quarter-final in midweek, Jesus made it five goals in four days against Palace as his first-half brace put the Gunners 2-1 up inside the first 14 minutes.

The Brazilian striker struck home Gabriel’s knockdown from Bukayo Saka’s cross before curling home from a corner – Arsenal’s 24th goal from a corner since the start of last season.

In between those two Jesus strikes, Ismaila Sarr curled Palace level. The winger is in a purple patch of his own, with four goals in his last seven Premier League games.

Palace were presented with a great chance to equalise when Jean-Philippe Mateta was played through after the hosts pressed William Saliba into a mistake, but Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was equal to the close-range effort.

It became more uncomfortable for Arsenal when Saka limped off injured with an apparent hamstring injury.

But Arsenal got breathing space to settle them down. Moments after Gabriel struck the bar from another dangerous corner, Jesus headed a cross from the right onto the post, with Kai Havertz staying onside to tap into an empty net.

Palace came out for the second half in a buoyant mood but were met by the gloves of Raya, who saved well from Sarr twice and Mateta when the hosts looked all but sure to pull one back.

Again, Arsenal made Palace pay as they found a fourth on the hour mark. Jesus’ close-range strike was denied by the feet of Dean Henderson inside the penalty area but the rebound fell to substitute Declan Rice, whose strike was diverted in by Gabriel Martinelli after keeping himself onside.

Rice then transformed from provider to goalscorer as he curled home from inside the box with five minutes to go to turn the London derby into a rout.

The result moves Arsenal within three points of leaders Liverpool, who do have two games in hand. The first of those is on Super Sunday – a visit to Tottenham, live on Sky Sports with kick-off at 4.30pm.

Sunday 22nd December 4:00pm


Kick off 4:30pm

Palace, meanwhile, remain four points above the relegation zone but could be overtaken by Leicester and Everton on Sunday.

WATCH: All of Jesus’ FIVE goals vs Palace this week!

Two on Saturday…

And three the previous Wednesday! Palace must be happy to see the back of Jesus…

Crunch time for Arsenal – will Liverpool and Chelsea drop points?

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher at Selhurst Park:

“It feels like a really big win for Arsenal. On the back of what has happened in the last couple of games, they have had a favourable run of fixtures so couldn’t afford to drop more points.

They really need to get their season going in terms of stringing some results together and building belief that they can go and win this title.

“Mikel Arteta’s five-year anniversary that we are at now, we are starting to reach a real crunch time, they’ve got to start delivering the biggest trophies.

“They will be there or there about come the end of the season with the Premier League. If they don’t win it will feel like disappointment.

“Arteta’s done a great job but now is the time to start winning trophies. They’ve been a brilliant team but there’s been lots of brilliant teams in the Premier League era who we remember but they never won a trophy, like Leeds, Newcastle and Tottenham. This team doesn’t want to be remembered like that.

“It felt like a big weekend coming into it. I don’t class Man City now as being in the title race. But the four teams being away from home – you’d expect someone to drop something. I’d be very surprised if all three teams [Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea] come away with maximum points this weekend.”

Arteta: Anything can happen in the title race

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:

“We were clinical today. I think in many things we were better the other day but this is football. We were so clinical today, we were so good at scoring in different phases like we want to do and we didn’t concede more realistically because David had two great saves as well and we have to be honest about that.

“Control, I don’t really like that word. I like to be very dominant, very dominant in the right areas. I don’t like to concede anything which we haven’t done in the last four games. Today we conceded more – especially because we have given two big chances. It’s always the balance that we want and when you win everything is okay.

“At the moment we aren’t there yet but [Liverpool] have a few games in hand.

“It’s so difficult for every team to win in any competition. Anything can happen, we want to keep our noses right in there, we are competing every single game. We are still not even halfway through the season.”

Analysis: So, are Arsenal title race ready?

Sky Sports’ Sam Blitz at Selhurst Park:

In what felt like a big day in the title race, Arsenal showed their mettle. So do they have what it takes to be right in the mix come May?

Firstly, they have a very good goalkeeper. David Raya showcased why he is a reliable No 1 between the sticks with five big saves and stopping 1.71 worth of expected goals.

Reason two: they are defensively astute. William Saliba and Gabriel did not have the best game at Selhurst Park but if a 5-1 defeat is an off day, it is a positive sign.

They also have the ability to play without Bukayo Saka, who limped off injured in the first half, and still score five goals. A few seasons ago they would have struggled with losing their best player.

Saturday showed they have layers in this team. There have been enough positive performances recently to show they are not completely reliant on set-pieces, another key asset in their locker.

There is flexibility too. Kai Havertz operated efficiently as a midfielder, Declan Rice and Riccardo Calafiori could afford to be rested, while Gabriel Martinelli deputised well for Saka down the right. Opponents will be kept guessing.

In fact, Arsenal have shown they can cope with multiple injuries and still keep up. Their left-hand side of defence has been decimated to the point where Myles Lewis-Skelly has emerged as a reliable option. Suspensions and injuries have been regular but Arsenal are still in the race.

It is what separates them from Manchester City, where injuries have made an impact. All these factors could separate them and the rest come May.

Glasner: If you give Arsenal a crumb, they’ll take the cake!

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner to Sky Sports:

“In football sometimes it’s crazy, when I compare the performance in the first half to the Emirates [in the Carabao Cup]. It was far better today but we were 3-1 down and there we had the lead so it’s crazy because I thought we did many things well.

“The first goal was a cross, the second was a set-play and the third was a cross where we don’t mark the man – we defended the box terribly. The quality of their players, they punished us.

“If you want to beat a team like Arsenal everything has to be almost perfect. It was not good enough today. We created chances but the result is disappointing. In the box too many times we watched the players.

“When you concede five it is unlikely you get a point! But yes, at 2-1 down we had a big chance and before they scored a third goal. We had big chances in the second half and then they scored the fourth and the game was over.

“We lost the belief to come back again. But we gifted them the goals and it’s not easy to come back.

“From the first 60 minutes we can take a lot of positives. We have to defend the box but everything else, one of our best performances.

“The pressure we gave them, the balls we were winning, in possession how we move the ball and how many chances we created. Of course, we will learn from it. We have to learn that when you give the top teams a crumb, they take the whole cake!”

Story of the match in stats…

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