The Patrick Vieira revolution at Crystal Palace took another step in the right direction on Monday night, as the Eagles beat Arsenal 3-0 at Selhurst Park.
Palace went into the half-time break with a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew, while Wilfried Zaha converted a penalty in the second half to add some gloss onto the victory.
The opening goal of the game arrived 16 minutes in, as Conor Gallagher’s deep free-kick was headed across goal by Joachim Anderson, which gave Mateta the chance to head home from a few yards out.
Vieira’s side were in dreamland just eight minutes later, as Anderson’s impressive through ball was misjudged by Gabriel, and that gave Ayew the time he needed to curl a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner.
With 16 minutes to go in normal time, the result was put beyond much doubt when Zaha was given the chance to score Palace’s third from the penalty spot after being fouled by Martin Odegaard. Zaha then stepped up and sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way to make it 3-0 to Palace.
On a weekend when Tottenham Hotspur were able to beat Newcastle United 5-1 and rise up to fourth in the table, this will be a bitter pill to swallow for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, who still have a game in hand on Spurs.