Arsenal put their goalscoring problems behind them to thrash a dismal Crystal Palace side 5-0 and move within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool.
The Gunners scored two goals from corners in the first half as Gabriel headed home the first – before the Brazilian forced an own goal off Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
After the break, Arsenal then scored from a Palace corner, which David Raya claimed and fed Gabriel Jesus on the break. The Brazilian found Leandro Trossard, who did Arsenal’s much-maligned forward group a favour by finishing a clear-cut chance at the Emirates Stadium.
Palace then gave up in stoppage time as Gabriel Martinelli scored twice to put a sensational gloss on the scoreline.
The win moves Mikel Arteta’s side above Aston Villa into third – with the pressure on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to extend their lead at the top as they travel to Bournemouth on Sunday, live on Sky Sports at 4.30pm.
However, the result did come at a cost for title-chasing Arsenal, who saw goal-getter Gabriel and midfielder Declan Rice go off with injuries in the second half.
Asked if he could expand more on the double injury blow, Arteta said: “No, he [Rice] was feeling some tightness. I don’t know what muscle it was.
“When he says that at 3-0 then we don’t want to take any risks. The same with big Gabi he had some discomfort from a tackle so we took him off.”
Meanwhile, it is one win in 12 matches in all competitions for Roy Hodgson’s Palace, who unveiled two angry banners towards full-time which read: ‘Wasted potential on and off the pitch, weak decisions taking us backwards’ and ‘no shared vision no structured plan’.
Striker problem? What striker problem?
Arsenal dominated the opening exchanges and showed their attacking intent early on. Jesus blazed over from the edge of the area but it wasn’t long until they found the lead.
Team news
Arsenal welcomed back Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from injury, with Jorginho and Jakub Kiwior dropping out of the team. Leandro Trossard started in place of Reiss Nelson on the left, with Gabriel Martinelli staying on the bench.
Crystal Palace started Dean Henderson in goal over Sam Johnstone, while Jean-Philippe Mateta was picked over Odsonne Edouard up front.
A stunning pass from Oleksandr Zinchenko opened up the Palace defence and forced a corner, which Declan Rice delivered and Gabriel rose highest at the far post to head home the opener.
Arsenal’s set-piece prowess was on full show in the first half and the Gunners nearly doubled the lead from their next corner. Bukayo Saka’s delivery took two deflections before bouncing off Jefferson Lerma, then onto the bar.
Gabriel headed wide at the near post from another Saka corner but then Palace grew into a game. A period of pressure saw Lerma sting David Raya’s palms at the near post after a poor pass out from the Arsenal goalkeeper.