Bukayo Saka scored twice as Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 4-1 at home on Sunday, putting them eight points in front in the Premier League standings going into the international break.
Gabriel Martinelli opened scoring for Arsenal, and Granit Xhaka added another goal, taking full advantage of the fact that rival Manchester City was elsewhere occupied this weekend with the FA Cup.
Palace’s hopes were temporarily raised in the second half when Jeffrey Schlupp scored his team’s first goal in five league games, but Arsenal was never going to let the opportunity to maintain their lead as they pursued their first English championship in 19 years slip away.
Arsenal now has 69 points after 28 games, one more than defending champions City, who have played one fewer match. This is a new record for the English league.
After losing on penalties to Sporting in the Europa League semifinals on Thursday, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team showed no signs of being dejected. By halftime, a sixth straight Premier League victory appeared to be in the bag after Martinelli scored off a pass from Saka.
The Brazilian’s perfect comeback after his devastating penalty miss against Sporting in midweek.
After being set up by a pass from Ben White, Saka extended the advantage in the 43rd minute by guiding a low effort past Palace’s young goalkeeper Joe Whitworth.
Leandro Trossard assisted Xhaka to make it 3-0 ten minutes into the second half as Arsenal was in full swing.
Schlupp answered soon after the hour, and there were a few nervous moments when Wilfried Zaha narrowly missed, but Saka sealed the deal in the 74th minute by guiding in a first-time shot off a ball from Kieran Tierney.
Palace, who fired manager Patrick Vieira this week and haven’t won a match this season, are still in 12th position but are only three points above the relegation zone.
With the final whistle, there was a sense of exhilaration in north London since Arsenal now had a firm hold on an eight-point lead heading into April, when the season will temporarily pause for England’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine.
Arteta expressed his admiration for his team’s ability to recover from its midweek Europa League elimination.
“Really pleased with the performance, the energy, the determination that we showed again, the way we controlled the game,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
“It was tough after playing 120 minutes in the week, wondering how the team would react but they reacted brilliantly and the crowd was at it again.”
Palace’s stand-in manager Paddy McCarthy said there were positives to take from the match, despite the scoreline.
“Even when we went down we were able to create in moments. But this is high-quality opposition,” he said. “They are top for a reason. I can’t fault the lads’ effort.
“They are a good group and they have to believe in themselves. Whatever happens, this group has more than enough.”
