Gabriel Jesus was the scourge of Crystal Palace for the second time in four days as his early double paved the way for an emphatic Arsenal victory at Selhurst Park.
Jesus scored a hat-trick when the teams met in midweek, Arsenal winning the EFL Cup quarter-final 3-2 at the Emirates and scoring twice inside the opening 14 minutes here as the Gunners closed to within three points of the leaders Liverpool though the Merseysiders have two games in hand.
Ismaila Sarr canceled out Jesus’ opener but the former Manchester City man was quick to score again and further goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice secured an emphatic victory.
Arsenal scores the biggest win of the season! 👊🔴#CRYARS | #FestiveFixtures pic.twitter.com/b2KrMokxJg
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024
The only downside to a night full of positives for Mikel Arteta was an injury to Bukayo Saka in the first half which could limit his availability over the festive period.
Jesus had not scored a league goal since January but, no doubt full of confidence after his exploits on Wednesday night, opened his account after six minutes.
Saka’s cross from the right was not cleared and fell to Jesus at the far post and he reacted well to fire a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
Palace leveled after 11 minutes with a superb back-to-forward sweep.
Tyrick Mitchell led the charge, slipped the ball to Sarr and he took advantage of loose defending from William Saliba to run unopposed into the box and curl a fine shot past David Raya’s left hand.
Palace were level for just three minutes, though, as Arsenal scored again from a corner.
A left-footed delivery was not cleared and, after Thomas Partey showed enough composure to bring the ball down and pick out Jesus lurking just inside the area, the Brazil international coolly slotted into the top right 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 signs of slowing down and Palace should have leveled again after 20 minutes after more sloppy play from Saliba.
The France international was parried by Sarr and played in Jean-Philippe Mateta, but Raya was out quickly to block the shot.
Saka limped off after 24 minutes, which will be a worry for Arteta, but didn’t disrupt his side’s attacking flow.
Jesus was denied by a great tackle from Maxens Lacroix and from the resulting corner, Gabriel headed onto the post. The danger was not yet over for the home side and, after allowing Arsenal to retain possession, Martinelli’s cross from the right was deflected onto the left post by Jesus, but Havertz was on hand to put the ball over the line. .
Gabriel Jesus denied a hat-trick from 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 good goalkeeping from Raya prevented them from halving the deficit. First he stood well to keep out Sarr’s header and then produced a superb double save to deny Mateta from long range and Sarr’s somewhat tame follow-up.
Having introduced Rice and Ricardo Calafiori from the bench, Arsenal made the points safe on the hour.
Rice’s first touch was to fire in a shot on goal after Jesus had again denied a hat-trick at Henderson’s feet and Martinelli was on hand to convert.
England midfielder Rice got his name on the scoresheet with six minutes remaining, curling his shot past Henderson and into the bottom right corner.
It was a statement win from Arsenal, who host struggling Ipswich on Friday.
