Gabriel Jesus was the scourge of Crystal Palace for the second time in four days as his early double paved the way for a commanding Arsenal win at Selhurst Park.
Jesus netted a hat-trick when the sides met in midweek, Arsenal winning that EFL Cup quarter-final 3-2 at the Emirates, and he scored twice inside the opening 14 minutes here as the Gunners closed within three points of leaders Liverpool, albeit the Merseysiders do have two games in hand.
Ismaila Sarr cancelled out Jesus’ opener but the former Manchester City man swiftly scored again and further goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice secured an emphatic victory.
Arsenal record their biggest win of the season! 👊🔴#CRYARS | #FestiveFixtures pic.twitter.com/b2KrMokxJg
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024
The only negative on a night full of positives for Mikel Arteta was a first-half injury to Bukayo Saka that could restrict his availability over the festive period.
Jesus had not scored a league goal since January but, no doubt full of confidence following his exploits on Wednesday night, he opened his account after six minutes.
Saka’s cross from the right was not cleared and it fell to Jesus at the far post and he reacted well to fire right-footed under goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Palace levelled after 11 minutes with a lovely sweeping move from back to front.
Tyrick Mitchell led the charge, slipping the ball into Sarr and he capitalised on slack defending from William Saliba to run unopposed into the box and curl a fine shot beyond the left-hand of David Raya.
Palace were level for just three minutes, though, as Arsenal scored again from a corner.
A left-wing delivery was not cleared and, after Thomas Partey showed plenty of composure to being the ball down and pick out Jesus lurking just inside the area, the Brazil international coolly slotted into the top right-hand corner.
Gabriel Jesus LOVES scoring against Crystal Palace 🤯
Five goals in a week against The Eagles 💥 pic.twitter.com/Y7mDDmj7nG
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2024
The game showed no sign of slowing down and Palace should have equalised again after 20 minutes after more sloppy play from Saliba.
The France international was dispossessed by Sarr and he played in Jean-Philippe Mateta but Raya was out quickly to block the shot.
Saka limped off after 24 minutes in what will be a worry for Arteta but it did not disrupt his team’s attacking flow.
Jesus was denied by a great tackle from Maxence Lacroix and from the resulting corner, Gabriel powered a header against the bar. The danger was not yet over for the home side and, having allowed Arsenal to retain possession, Martinelli’s cross from the right was headed onto the left-hand post by Jesus but Havertz was on hand to bundle the ball over the line.
Gabriel Jesus denied a hat-trick by the post 👀
Kai Havertz picks up the rebound 🙌 pic.twitter.com/jtpQlpAZOa
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2024
Palace came out firing after the break and only two moments of fine goalkeeping from Raya prevented them halving the deficit. First he got down well to keep out Sarr’s header and he then produced a brilliant double save to deny Mateta from long-range and Sarr’s somewhat tame follow-up.
Having introduced Rice and Riccardo Calafiori from the bench, Arsenal made the points safe on the hour mark.
Rice’s first touch was to fire in a shot on goal after Jesus had again been denied a hat-trick by the feet of Henderson and Martinelli was on hand to turn it in.
England midfielder Rice got his name on the scoresheet with six minutes to go, bending his shot past Henderson and into the bottom right-hand corner.
It was a statement win from Arsenal, who host struggling Ipswich on Friday.
