Eberechi Eze fired home the winner against his former club as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at the Emirates to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Victory for Arsenal means they took full advantage of a perfect weekend for their Premier League bid, with both Manchester City and Liverpool dropping points.
Arsenal’s seventh straight win in all competitions sees them move four points clear at the top of the table, seven points clear of champions Liverpool, who suffered a fourth straight league loss at Brentford on Saturday, and six points ahead of fellow contenders Man City, who were beaten by Aston Villa on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta could rely on his Arsenal side’s strength in set-pieces, as Declan Rice’s dink into the area came off Palace’s Ismailla Sarr and fell to Eze to hammer home his first Premier League goal for the Gunners since completing the switch from Selhurst Park in the summer for £67.5m.
Arsenal will now end the month of October top of the league, with their next fixture in the competition coming on November 1. Arteta’s side will turn their attention to the Carabao Cup where they host Brighton live on Sky Sports on Wednesday.
How Arsenal took full advantage of the perfect Premier League weekend
Arsenal’s rivals for the Premier League all dropped points, offering a further opportunity for the Gunners to strengthen their claim for the title. Arteta’s side made a rampant start, full of energy as the aroma of possibility swept the Emirates.
A breakthrough was difficult to come by in the first period. Starved of any opportunities, marquee striker Viktor Gyokeres, who fans had hoped had turned a corner with his Champions League brace against Atletico, struggled. His eight touches in the first half summed up his anonymous display before the break.
Eze’s winner becomes Arsenal’s 11th goal from a set-piece this season in the Premier League
However, it wasn’t as though chances were flowing for his team-mates either. Arsenal failed to register a single shot in the opening 30 minutes of the game. In fact, Arsenal’s first attempt, a Leandro Trossard shot from a tight angle in the 33rd minute, was their longest wait for an attempt in a Premier League game since April 2021.
However, their second effort on goal, Eze’s winner, came as the result of a set-piece. Their 11th goal of its kind, two more than anyone else in the Premier League.
It was a half that didn’t deliver in the way of any real entertainment. Palace themselves, struggling for confidence on a run of four without a win since their 19-match winning streak was ended by Everton. The first half produced an xG of just 0.20, the lowest in the first half of any Premier League match so far this season, but Arteta will care very little about that given the result.
After the break, the shackles were off, with Arsenal coming close to a second when Gabriel crashed a header off a bar, again from a set-piece.
Gyokeres’ influence grew in the game and his runs down the channel chasing direct passes got the Emirates off their feet, but their wait to celebrate a Premier League goal from their £55m man continues, who hasn’t scored in the league since September. However, another win for Arsenal means that perhaps that’s a concern for further down the line.
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Arsenal take the lead against Crystal Palace through Eberechi Eze!
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Gabriel heads off the crossbar in Arsenal’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace.
Arteta: I value this victory over any other this season
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta:
“I just told the boys that I value this victory more than any other victory this season. Because we knew the difficulty of it, you come after playing every three days, you have a big opportunity as well with the things that happened during this weekend.
“I knew we were playing against a team that, in my opinion, has been one of the best recently in terms of organisation, how difficult they make it, how frustrated they can make you and the moment that you lose that concentration, they will punish you for sure.
“We have managed to be very stable, playing the game that we have to play. In the first half a bit stuck, we found a way to score the goal, in the second one we attacked better and were more fluent.
“At 1-0 we knew that we had to suffer because it’s a team that has scored goals to any other opponent this season, so to keep the clean sheet is very, very important.”
Glasner: Not many teams create chances at Arsenal
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner:
“I haven’t seen many teams creating a lot of chances here, honestly. I think we had a few moments where we could have been more dangerous.
“Just in the second half, I think it was two or three times, we found Ismaila Sarr in the pocket. Then Declan Rice recovered and stole the ball, instead of having an overload, because he made pressure.
“It just took us too long, and that’s why we couldn’t create more. But on the other side, we didn’t give them a lot, but a little bit too much in one situation.
“It was a credit to Arsenal how quickly they recovered. We made two mistakes and got punished, and that’s why we lost the game.”
