Jesus grabs another goal as the Gunners close the gap on Liverpool

Gabriel Jesus was the scourge of Crystal Palace for the second time in four days as his early double paved the way for Arsenal’s convincing win at Selhurst Park.

Jesus scored a hat-trick when the two sides met in midweek, Arsenal winning the EFL Cup quarter-final 3-2 at the Emirates, scoring twice in the first 14 minutes here as the Gunners moved three points behind leaders Liverpool, although the Merseysiders have two games in hand.

Ismaila Sarr canceled out Jesus’ first strike, but the former Manchester City player quickly scored again, and further goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice secured a convincing victory.

Arsenal registered the biggest victory of the season! 👊🔴#CRY | #FestiveFixtures pic.twitter.com/b2KrMokxJg

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 21, 2024

The only blemish on a night full of positives for Mikel Arteta was an injury to Bukaya Saka in the first half that 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 failed and fell to Jesus at the far post and he reacted well to fire a right-footed shot under goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Palace equalized after 11 minutes with a nice sweeping move from the back to the front.

Tyrick Mitchell led the charge, feeding the ball to Sarr, who took advantage of slack defending by William Saliba to run unchallenged into the box and flick a fine shot beyond David Raya’s left.

Palace were level after just three minutes, however, when Arsenal scored again from a corner.

A delivery from the left wing was not cleared and, after Thomas Partey showed enough composure to drop the ball and pick out Jesus who was lurking in the area, the Brazil international coolly slotted into the top right corner.

Gabriel Jesus LOVES to score 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 equalized again after 20 minutes after more sloppy play from Saliba.

The France international was sent off by Sarr and he slotted in for Jean-Philippe Mateta, but Raya was quickly out of action to block the shot.

Saka limped off in the 24th minute, which may have worried Artet, but it didn’t hamper his side’s attacking flow.

Maxence Lacroix jumped into the attack brilliantly, and after a corner Gabriel hit the crossbar with his head. The danger was not yet over for the home side and, after allowing Arsenal to retain possession, Martinelli’s cross from the right was headed to the left post by Jesus, but Havertz was on hand to tip the ball over the line.

Gabriel Jesus denied a hat-trick with a post 👀

Kai Havertz picked up the rebound 🙌 pic.twitter.com/jtpQlpAZOa

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 21, 2024

Palace fired after the break and only two moments from fine goalkeeper Ray prevented them from halving the deficit. First he got down well to keep out Sarro’s header and then produced a brilliant double save to keep out Mateta’s long-range effort and Sarro’s somewhat tame follow-through.

After introducing Rice and Riccardo Calafiori from the bench, Arsenal secured the points on the hour mark.

Rice’s first touch was a shot on goal after Henderson was again denied by Henderson for a hat-trick and Martinelli was there to turn it away.

England midfielder Rice got on the scoresheet six minutes before the end, firing past Henderson into the bottom right corner.

It was an emphatic victory for Arsenal, who hosted struggling Ipswich on Friday.