Central defender Gabriel Magalhaes helped Arsenal solve their scoring problems as the Gunners ended a three-game losing streak in all competitions with a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday.
After seeing the team’s forwards waste many chances during the recent skid, Gabriel took matters into his own hands in the first half at the Emirates Stadium. The Brazil international first headed home a corner in the 11th minute and then forced an own goal past Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson from another set piece delivery in the 37th minute.
Leandro Trossard scored the third goal in the 59th after a quick counterattack and substitute Gabriel Martinelli ended the defeat with two almost identical goals in stoppage time as Arsenal moved above Aston Villa into third place in the Premier League standings. Mikel Arteta’s side reduced the gap to Liverpool to two points ahead of the leader’s game at Bournemouth on Sunday.
Arsenal’s inability to convert their dominance into goals has resulted in recent defeats to West Ham and Fulham in the league and Liverpool in the FA Cup.
So it was a relief for the home crowd when Gabriel towered over Chris Richards and met Declan Rice’s corner with a superb header in the 11th minute.
The centre-back thought he had scored a double when he rose to head Bukayo Saka’s close ball at the far post, but it was ruled an own goal after the ball bounced off Henderson’s head and into the net.
“We work a lot on set pieces because we know how much quality we have,” Gabriel said. “I scored two points today so we’ll keep it going.”
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya played a composed game as the hosts controlled proceedings, but he had to make a forceful two-handed save to deny Jefferson Lerma’s long-range strike in the 33rd – although that was only because The ball went out due to his own poor clearance. Straight to your opponent.
Arsenal’s third goal also came from a corner – but this time from a Palace corner. Raya collected the delivery in the box and immediately left it to Gabriel Jesus on the counter. The Brazilian striker passed the ball to Trossard, who cut inside a defender and fired a powerful strike into the corner from near the penalty spot.
Martinelli added some sparkle to the scoreline in the fourth minute of stoppage time by running onto Eddie Nketiah’s pass and getting a low finish inside the far post. Just a minute later, he repeated it with the same finish after being troubled by Jorginho.
This may end the discussion about Arsenal’s scoring problems, at least for a while.
“We knew we needed a game where we had a clean sheet and five goals,” Martinelli said.
Palace finished 14th, five points above the relegation zone. And speculation could be rife about manager Roy Hodgson’s future after the huge defeat, especially with former Chelsea and Brighton coach Graham Potter watching the game from the stands.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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