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GABRIEL JESUS’ FIRST-HALF brace fired Arsenal to an emphatic 5-1 win against Crystal Palace to take them within three points of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Just three days after his hat-trick propelled Arsenal through to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, Jesus was back among the goals after he scored either side of Ismaila Sarr’s strike in a frenetic opening 15 minutes at Selhurst Park.
Kai Havertz netted Arsenal’s third, seven minutes before the interval, and Gabriel Martinelli added another for the visitors on the hour mark. Declan Rice then completed the rout six minutes from time.
Following consecutive draws in the league, Arsenal’s five-star triumph in south London keeps them hot on Liverpool’s heels with the Reds – who have two games in hand over the Gunners – in action at Tottenham on Sunday.
It was the sixth time in 2024 that Arsenal scored five goals or more away from home – the most by an English top-flight club in a calendar year.
The only sour note for manager Mikel Arteta arrived after 22 minutes when Bukayo Saka was forced off with a hamstring injury. Saka headed straight down the tunnel and looks set for a spell on the sidelines.
Jesus scored a 27-minute treble in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Palace at the Emirates on Wednesday. And the in-form Brazilian was on the scoresheet inside six minutes here.
Tyrick Mitchell failed to deal with Saka’s cross and the ball fell to Jesus who sent Dean Henderson the wrong way as he thrashed home. It was a clinical finish and remarkably marked Jesus’ first goal in the Premier League in 326 days.
The home side were on level terms just five minutes later.
Moments after David Raya invited pressure with a poor pass to Thomas Partey, Sarr was bearing down on the Spaniard’s goal. William Saliba afforded his opponent too much time, and Sarr picked his spot before curling a fine effort past Raya.
Selhurst Park came alive but they were silenced four minutes later – and it was Jesus again.
Palace failed to deal with Arsenal’s opening corner of the game, allowing Partey to control the ball and then laying it off to an unmarked Jesus who fired into the net – the striker’s seventh goal this year, with five coming in the last 72 hours against Palace.
The hosts provided a speedy response with Raya forced to pull off a super stop to deny Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Arsenal came scampering down the other end through Saka, but after he crossed for Martin Odegaard, the England man pulled up, clutching his right hamstring. Saka immediately signalled to the bench and then collapsed to the turf. He was unable to continue and limped straight down the tunnel.
The Gunners were undeterred by the blow and Gabriel’s header from Odegaard’s corner rattled Henderson’s crossbar.
However, less than a minute later, Havertz provided Arsenal with a two-goal advantage at the break. Martinelli’s cross was met by Jesus, who came within inches of completing back-to-back hat-tricks. His angled header rebounded off the foot of Henderson’s post, and the ball fell to an unmarked Havertz, who could not miss.
The second half was barely a minute old when Raya leapt to his right to stop Sarr’s diving header. Raya was back in action seven minutes later as he parried Mateta’s long-range strike before getting back to his feet to save Sarr’s follow-up effort.
But Arsenal scored the next goal. Jesus looked set to convert Leandro Trossard’s cross only for Henderson to deny him, but Rice’s effort was diverted in by Martinelli.
And with five minutes left, Rice put the gloss on a fine night for Arteta – who is celebrating five years in charge of Arsenal – when he beat Henderson from the edge of the penalty area with a pinpoint curling effort.
Written by Press Association and originally published on The 42. Subscribe here.
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They went full Islamist so it’s not a surprise.
@Alex: By having a Muslim leader you mean?
@Alex: have you ever been to scoland lad ,laddie or anything thing else you want to be know as , sectarian poverty, enormous wealth and religions that done everything to each other and still slaughtered our Islam friends ,
Very strange headline from PA / The Journal. Scottish independence movement is not at an end and won’t be until Scotland gains its independence again.
SNP can now all fit in sturgeon’s dodgy camper van….
@David Cotter: interesting that all that has gone very quiet. No court dates.
Constant moaning while they are funded by Westminster. And to say that he still in his heart and soul believes in Scottish Independence just shows how out of touch he is. At least his constituents seem to know which side their bread is buttered on. In comparison it seems he wants it buttered on both sides
@Fintan Neelan: very narrow view
U use the resources given to you ..
Would you rather they abstained like SF ?
NEVER happy
And SF is the 5th largest party in the UK! You can’t control borders if you don’t own your own borders. A United Ireland is inevitable
@D. Peadar:
If Shin Fein are serious about a United Ireland they need to start trying to convince the nationalists/catholics /wolf tone cd owners it’s a good idea.
The Scottish Independence movement has NOT collapsed. Independence led by 2% in the last poll a fortnight ago. It is simply much more than the SNP, which got a huge vote, just not as huge as Labour and the first past the post system flipped them out. Other parties and voters also support independence.
The first past the post system is very odd.
@Washpenrebel: How is winning by getting the most votes odd?
@Vincent Wallace: do you not think winning nearly two-thirds of the seats with a little more than one-third of the vote is odd? Do you not think the Liberal Democrats getting fewer votes than Reform but more than ten times as many seats is odd?
Just a few years ago, the UK appeared to be falling apart over Brexit and under Johnson and Truss. That moment is gone now but it would be very foolish to think it couldn’t come back again. Anything is possible.
@N M: the UK is falling apart,why do you think the tory party just got crushed
The Nicola Sturgeon debacle coupled with wanting to get the tories out of power right now lead to their poor showing. I doubt it’s changed one persons mind on independence. It’s just on the back burner until they can regroup.
The Scots never really wanted independence, only the romantic right to want it. I mean come on! They had their chance once, and said no. Put the independence question to bed and move on.
@Keth Tgi:
Watching Braveheart and painting their face blue seemed to work for a while.
All the SNP need is a new leader to continue the legacy of the past, perhaps Shane Codd or Rob Herring.
That’s what happen when you let Islamists in command. They made a mess of it. Frankly, that was laughable
Themselves and the fianna failers would make the mafia look like choirboys
have your say