Arsenal secured an emphatic 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League this evening.
Facing the same opponent for the second time in just a few days, Arsenal started brightly, with the in-form Gabriel Jesus opening the scoring within six minutes.
It was the perfect start for Arsenal, but just five minutes later, the Gunners were pegged back by a goal from Ismaila Sarr.
Palace showed they are a resilient side, but Arsenal quickly regained the lead three minutes later, with Jesus scoring again.
Arsenal knew they needed to shift into a higher gear to pull away from their hosts, and they did just that as they continued to dominate proceedings.
Unfortunately, they lost Bukayo Saka to an injury, which they will hope is not serious. Palace might have felt relieved with Arsenal’s primary dangerman off the pitch.
However, Saka’s absence did not hinder Arsenal, as they maintained control of the game and extended their lead seven minutes before halftime.
Kai Havertz found the back of the net, and Gabriel Martinelli almost added another goal before the break, forcing Dean Henderson into an excellent save.
Immediately after the restart, Sarr tested David Raya with two stunning efforts inside the first ten minutes, but the Arsenal goalkeeper was up to the task.
Arsenal soon responded with another goal, as Gabriel Martinelli extended their advantage, leaving the visitors enjoying themselves at Selhurst Park.
Declan Rice added his name to the scoresheet, rounding off a dominant performance with a fifth goal for the Gunners.
Great win. A better performance from Jesus. Martinelli and Rice. Why does Arteta keep playing Havertz in the midfield? There is enough samples to tell that Havertz is always a passenger when in the mid. The mid was overrun until Rice was subbed in.
If Jesus plays CF, Havertz must play midfield because Raya needs Havertz’s aerial ability to escape from the opposition’s high-press
Havertz played well tonight with his interceptions, aerial-battle-wins and a goal
Arteta’s inverted-fullback tactic is very good to use in away games, but he needs to find another more consistent solution for home games
@Gai, imo, Havertz was only average today I think we suffered in the midfield with Odegard unable to help Pathey as Palace became very physica. When Rice and Calafiori came in we regained our midfield back. I am happy for Jesus hope he stays inury free.
I am confident if Arsenal first 11 can stay inury free and avoid Red card we can go on a winning run.
Good game though
GAI None of what you said happened. He didn’t do nothing in the midfield and the left side was wide open until Rice come on. Your theory doesn’t hold water because the team played better when he was subbed and Jesus was still playing as striker
GAI said all of that before the match
Then after the match he continues saying it as if it happened
We were practically 1 man down with Kai – he was absolutely a passenger
The keeper, the defenders and Partey found it difficult to pass out of the back cos we were always 1 man short as Crystal were outnumbering us in that middle
Even Odegaard came back more often to collect the ball than Kai
Kai is going to be a problem if Jesus regains the striking position as Arteta doesn’t seem to want to drop him
The funny thing is Kai still carries himself as if he’s a striker even in the midfield – rarely participating in build up plays, moving around as if it’s just a final through pass he’s hoping for
But as a midfielder he’s now supposed to be part of the players that build up play for the further attackers & striker
Everything stabilized when Rice came in
Kai played well in the attacking phases of the game. I disagree that he was a passenger.
Rice’s all round play when he came in was excellent. Rice is better when we are defending and in dealing with transitions. It is important to note that he is probably one of the best in the world in these situations.
It is also important to note that KH is probably just average as a CM
@Ibrahim, on point bro, I don’t see what Havertz did in the game apart from the goal. Playing him in the midfield is completely a minus for us, it’s better he is rotated with Jesus except we want to go with double stripers.
Don’t talk nonsense. You are not a technical coach. David Raya’s distribution has been off par of late. You seem to think that Havertz’s height is the solution,,, when in fact he is rubbish when it goes to actual duals at high balls. When Havertz wins a high ball,, it usually goes to the opposition. So in reality we automatically lose possession. It is not rocket science GOTANIDEA. You aren’t as smart as you think you are. Have you ever kicked a ball in your life,,,,,, or do you just play FIFA on a console. It makes me wonder at times
@ pjennings.. the only person talking nonsense here is you…you don’t have to call someone’s opinion nonsense because you don’t agree with it.. gotanidea was only voicing what he observed before, during and after the match and mind you no matter how odd an opinion is everyone is entitled to it… If Rayer distribution is not good to you maybe you’re in the wrong profession because the guy can actually pass ball without fear.. mistakes are bond to happen sometimes… Anything you say on here is just an opinion it doesn’t mean you’re right because you’re a technical coach or whatever.
@Junking,,, I said David Raya’s distribution has been off par of late. That’s not a criticism towards him. He’s normally very good. That’s why he was brought in by the club to replace Aaron Ramsdale. Raya also plays the very extreme high line that Arteta expects him to play. That’s one department that Aaron Ramsdale struggled with. Not many goalkeepers WORLDWIDE are confident in playing the high line. Raya backs himself in playing the high line which is what Arteta expects from his goalkeeper. It will be very interesting if Netto can play the high line with the confidence that Raya shows with ease
Nice for the 22/23 Arsenal to make an apperance today. We stopped obsessing over trying to be perfect and just played. It doesnt matter our defensive wasn’t perfect when we scored 5 goals today. And I know people will take this the wrong way but Saka not playing made us more unpredictable. I had forgotten Martinelli could be this good because we’ve only seen him play one way for such a long time. Attack finally delivered and it was great to see.
I have to say that for a spell in the first half, Saliba, Gabriel and Raya gave me the willies
Me too SueP, scared the **** out of me every time Palace attacked.
@SueP,,,, I know where you are coming from. They were shocking. But you need to know, that they are all playing under the instructions of Arteta. Thank God we were playing Crystal Palace. Any other team in the top 6 would have punished us.
Really Sue,
I never see them pull down their shorts once.😂🤣😉👍
None of what you said happened. He didn’t do nothing in the midfield and the left side was wide open until Rice come on. Your theory doesn’t hold water because the team played better when he was subbed and Jesus was still playing as striker.
*I meant he did nothing
Jesus so much better when he’s not over-complicating it.
And also playing in the box as the strikers should and not dropping deap in the mid.
Great to see a more accomplished performance tonight. Daft defending in the first half but otherwise it was a massive boost for Jesus to find his scoring boots again. There were occasional lapses which could have given Palace more from the game but it was a great way to gear up for Christmas scoring 5.
@Admin Pat
Big ups AP. You got your “demolition”Just sayin…😁
I was confident shall we say lol
@Ibrahim…. gotanidea was absolutely correct. Havertz was sub off at 58 minutes and we scored our 4th goal around 60 minutes… The 4th goal was the reason the ball was later calm in the middle and in general because by then Palace can not rush or press again.. not necessarily because of Rice …the 4th goal was what weakened Palace
For the second time in just one week Jesus destroys Palace. Oh well. Tis the season to be jolly.
The result was far better than the performance to be honest.Surely our Manager must now be aware that he simply cannot accommodate Odegaard and Havertz in our midfield trio as neither is defensively aware enough to win second ball challenges.On a number of occasions, Partey was outnumbered three to one in the engine room and with Saliba having one of his poorest games for Arsenal we were really toiling to gain control of the game.Thankfully we took our chances very well but until Rice entered the fray, we were struggling.As it is, it will go down in the records as a convincing win but we need to tighten up in defence and Arteta needs to rethink the make-up of his midfield trio to avoid our main DM from being overrun.
Agree with your assessment – I think/hope arteta’s decision to bring on rice for havertz was an acknowledgement the midfield wasn’t working, rather than him wanting to keep one of his main players involved.
Great win and three points in the bag. On to Ipswich next. COYG!!!!!
Wow today was the underfires day! If they keep it up the season might be salvaged yet.
Havertz played well for me, good hold up play, scored and was lively all over the pitch. But, Rice was the perfect box to box midfielder when he came on and must play more like that instead of the defensive mid he sometimes plays, also he’s pretty damn quick!
Agree, Havertz did well. I loved some of those interceptions only possible due to his workrate that he had in MF. Rice had great energy and command of possession and was sharp as a tack. It was great to see from Declan as he has been battling for fitness this season and perhaps he has finally been able to turn the corner.
Martinelli looked so much more natural and comfortable on the right wing.
Didn’t see second half so can’t comment on what happened but a few dodgy moments of our own at the back and not too convincing but the result was great. Lets hope Sakas injury not too bad but on the plus side, we can play a right footer on the right, for a change.
Every cloud ,Reggie…..
Woke up to a good result. After six months in Japan, I’ll be returning to Australia and can finally see us play Ipswich. It will be my first live game this season, even if it’s only on a TV, screen and means loss of sleep.I think having Califiori back will provide us with more attacking momentum. Hopefully he stays fit. Also hope Jesus has rediscovered his mojo.
@ Joe. S,,,,, you got to love Japan and the Japanese way of living and their lifestyle. I’m now a full time resident of Japan. I love and appreciate their traditional way of life. I originally moved to Japan 2008/9. Alot of foreigners don’t last long enough in Japan. I’ve never had a problem. Number one rule,, research up on the Japanese tradition. Number 2 rule,,,respect their traditional culture and their values. It’s quite simple. Although I have massive investments within Australia, I cannot foresee myself ever living in Australia ever again. Funny how life transforms. One minute I’m in Germany at Hamburger SV, then at Schalke 04 coaching a very young Manuel Neuer barely cutting his teeth into the big time. I did nearly 8 years there. I was forced to come back home to Australia because of a stalker. I did a few months working for Football Australia. And out of the blue, the Japanese Football Association offers me a full time position as Head Goalkeeping Coach of both the Man’s and Women’s International team. I must say, once you learn the traditional culture of the Japanese and their way of living,, life there is a breeze. So I’ve been working for the Japanese Football Association since 2008/9. So I really can’t complain about life in general, can I
What a career pjennings! And there I was, thinking you were in the stands at the toilet bowl watching spurs play Utd in the cup earlier this week 😉
Ha ha ha Sue P. I haven’t seen the highlights of that match. I was told there were a few goalkeeping errors from the Spuds goalkeeper and the United keeper. That I need to see. But I will definitely be watching Spuds 🆚 Liverpool tomorrow morning. I think that’s 2.30am Japanese time. I’m glad I’m on holidays. These matches are so congested leading up to Christmas . And I need my beauty sleep. I’d kill to watch the full match the following day at my leisure. But knowing my son back in Australia, he will message me the results. If I know the results, I’m buggered if I’m watching the match knowing the end result. Love going through the emotions of watching a match live. The Spuds/Liverpool match will be interesting. I hope they kick the living daylights out of each other.
Great win and top performances from players that really needed it. See havertz again getting some stick for no fault of his own as usual. Palace tried a gegenpressing klopp style in the 1st half to make the match explosive, that’s why we looked overwhelmed in defence n midfield early on. Never gonna be sustainable as they dropped physically in the 2nd half. Arteta likely told havertz to not drop back too much so that we can play over their pressing rather than through it.
I agree Haverts was one of the weaknesses but the truth,Partey was an other reason as well.He is brilliant when he possesses the ball, otherwise he is slow and easy to be penetrated,we were under high pressure due to his lack of pace.This is one of the reasons Arsenal defenders were exposed in the first half, and it will remain a constant weakness whenever we lose possession of the ball against pacy players.I hope we are fair rather than selective.
Good win and a valuable three points. But if were honest with ourselves we got away with one in the first half.
Why Arteta persists with having Havertz in the team no matter what, will eventually cost us. If he has to be played, then for me it’s as the number 9. Although I’m not completely convinced by him there either.
The midfield were just getting overrun tome and again, a better side will punish us should we play like that again. Someone said that Partey was at fault, something I don’t agree with.
Having Havertz there unbalances the midfield, and therefore your asking Partey to cover for Havertz weaknesses. I wanted Arteta to substitute Havertz at halftime, it was a gamble that Arteta got away with thankfully for 11 minutes of the second half.
But along with Rice coming on, and Palace now beginning to show fatigue, we were able to gain more control for the rest of the game.
And finally, what a difference a bit of confidence can make, Jesus has been a completely different player in these last two games. And although now is not the time to get carried away, if he can continue at this level or very near it for a consistent amount of time, then I’m more than glad to see him in the team.
Overall boys, good win.