Arsenal closed the gap on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table to three points, with Liverpool yet to play this weekend.
Having knocked Crystal Palace out of the League Cup quarter-finals 3-2 less than 72 hours earlier, the Gunners delivered another ruthless performance, dismantling the Eagles 5-1 for the second consecutive time in the league.
At Selhurst Park, Oliver Glasner’s South London side had no answer to Arsenal’s dominance after their spirited midweek showing at the Emirates.
Gabriel Jesus stole the spotlight yet again, following up his midweek hat-trick against Palace with another two goals, bringing his tally to five in two successive games against the same opponent.
The Brazilian forward opened the scoring after just six minutes, smashing the ball past Dean Henderson at the near post from a precise Bukayo Saka cross. The delivery from the right flank bypassed several Arsenal players in the box before finding Jesus, who wasted no time putting his side ahead.
However, Arsenal’s defensive frailty reared its head just five minutes later when Ismaila Sarr fired an impressive strike from the edge of the left-hand side of the box, sending the ball into the bottom right corner to level the score.
It didn’t take long for Arsenal to reclaim their lead. Jesus scored a stunning second goal from inside the area, finding the top-right corner after Saka battled for Declan Rice’s corner in the box and laid it off for the Brazilian to finish brilliantly.
Just before halftime, Kai Havertz pounced on a rebound from Jesus’s shot, which struck the woodwork, denying him a second consecutive hat-trick. Havertz’s quick reaction made it 3-1 to Arsenal heading into the break.
After the restart, Gabriel Martinelli added his name to the scoresheet, redirecting Rice’s shot into the net on the left side to make it 4-1.
Declan Rice then capped off the scoring six minutes from full-time with a sensational strike. Positioned at the edge of the left side of the box, the Englishman unleashed a rocket into the far corner, sealing Arsenal’s emphatic 5-1 victory.
Post-match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised his team’s attacking display and lauded their record-breaking feat of a sixth 5-0 or more victory away from home in 2024—an English top-flight record yet to be matched by Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, or Tottenham.
Speaking to Arsenal’s media team, Arteta said: “I think nobody else has done it, no? Ever. So it is a big achievement.
“It’s a great day at a really tough place to come. We’ve played them twice in three days. That makes it really tricky, but overall, I’m really happy to win 5-1 away from home. Scoring the goals that we scored, the way we performed again consistently—a lot of positives to take.”
The Spaniard also expressed delight at Jesus’s sublime goalscoring form:
“I’m so happy, he fully deserves it. He’s been so consistent, his work ethic, he’s been patient, you know? And at the end, a lot of the things that we have seen here actually started in July, with some changes that he made and a lot of discussions we had together.”
Jesus, Arsenal’s man of the moment, will now be expected to continue his red-hot form when the Gunners face Ipswich in their next match on December 27th.
Liam Harding
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Apparently, Jesus has written to the FA, asking if we can play Palace every week.😂🤣😉👍
I suspect that Liverpool wish they could play Spurs every week Derek
With the Reds at away today beating the Totts by 3-6 in the Epl. And as a result of their win, have reinstated the 6 points gap that they had on Arsenal before their today’s match, against Everton. Which finished to a godless Draw with a match in hand at Everton to play.
And as the Blues have in the early kickoff played to a godless match draw away to Everton. And consequently see their 4 pints lead on Arsenal reduced to 2 point with both teams haven played 17 matches each.
Going in into 2nd half of the seaso soon, Arsenal have to beat Ipwich and Brentford at home and away at halfway mark of season to garner 39 points. But if the Gunners endup with 39 points garnered.
Aesenal will obviously need to step up their Epl match winning performance considerably in the 2hd Hal of the season if they are to win the title this campaign. And start winning matches in the Epl consistently. And garner at least54 points to probably win the title this season.
Liverpool are not repenting as they are charging in the season’s 1st half to win the title. And Chelsea are looking to john them.
I think Arsenal best hopes to win titles this season, may happen for us on the Carabao and FA Cups as well in the Champions League .