Arsenal turn a corner in title race with big win vs. Palace،
LONDON — The answer to Arsenal's goal-scoring woes was there all along. Mikel Arteta sought to explain the problem this week by highlighting internal data suggesting they posed more of a threat than recent results suggest, and Saturday's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace highlighted a key aspect: the corners.
Arsenal took control of this encounter thanks to two headers from Gabriel Magalhães (the second later credited as a Dean Henderson own goal) which underlined the power of the home side in dealing with dead ball situations.
This has provided an invaluable path back to some sort of form here, albeit tempered by Palace's passivity – only Eberechi Eze has emerged with any credit from a bland collective performance which places manager Roy Hodgson's future under a closer examination. The irony is that the Gunners didn't even prioritize set pieces during their training trip to Dubai during their mid-season break.
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“The reality is that we trained set pieces less last week than other aspects of the game,” Arteta said after the match. “That's the beautiful thing. But we worked on a lot of things that actually happened and we practiced them a lot. Set pieces are a big part of us, especially against teams who want to defend deep .It’s a good way to win matches.”
Gabriel's 11th-minute header – from a corner which, in a further development, was taken by Declan Rice – was Arsenal's first home goal in 50 shots. Prior to this match, Arsenal had won more corners in the Premier League this season (158) than any other team, and by far Manchester City are the second best with 141. And they are making the most of it. Arsenal have scored more goals from corners than any other team in the league this season (10), and their 10 headed goals are also the most of any team.
The club's manager, Nicolas Jover, worked with Arteta for several months under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in 2019 and he helped turn an area of weakness before his arrival into one of strength. Arsenal had conceded goals from set pieces – four in six games before the winter break – but here they turned those moments in both areas into positives for a result that put them back on track in the race to the title after one victory in seven games in all competitions.
“It’s the second part of the season, we want to approach it with a lot of aggression and motivation,” Arteta said. “I would like to play three days later, but it is what it is. We are going to continue to prepare and we have to continue to do better and improve as a team.”
Gabriel has scored at least three more goals than any other central defender since making his Premier League debut in 2020. He thought he had another when he met Bukayo Saka's 37th-minute effort, but missed decisive came from Henderson as he batted helplessly on his goal line.
“They were good set pieces,” Hodgson said. “But there were infringements on both goals, but we didn't have the chance to get them recognized by the referee.”
The open play goal Arteta dreamed of came in the 59th minute. Technically, it came from a corner of the Palace. A sweeping counter-attack began with clever distribution from David Raya and ended with Gabriel Jesus feeding Leandro Trossard, who cut inside off his right foot and fired a shot past Henderson.
Arsenal's only concern was injuries to Rice and Gabriel, who both appeared to suffer hamstring problems, triggering their immediate precautionary withdrawals.
“[Rice] I felt some tension,” Arteta said. “I don't know exactly what muscle it was, but when he says that at 3-0, we obviously don't want to take any risks. The same with the big “Gabi”. He had some discomfort, I think he had a tackle in the first half and he was struggling a bit so it was a good time to take him off.”
Arsenal were so comfortable here that Arteta was able to give Emile Smith Rowe a 20-minute timeout as proof he would get game time if he stays at the club amid West Ham United's interest in the midfielder's loan. The same goes for Eddie Nketiah, who benefited from the final nine minutes as Palace continued to monitor his situation. How they need a scorer on this evidence.
The absence of Michael Olise due to a hamstring problem left Eze as the sole creator. His intelligent turns in tight spaces and speed in breaking away from opponents were a flash of light in the darkness of a dismal spectacle that prompted Palace supporters to unveil a banner which read: “Wasted potential on and off the field. Weak decisions set us back.” It was hard to disagree.
Another substitute, Gabriel Martinelli, scored twice in added time to add further gloss to the scoreline as Palace completely collapsed. After shaking hands with Arteta and several members of his team backstage, Hodgson stood still, alone, on the touchline, looking in the general direction of the away fans who were once again raising their protest banners.
Arsenal now have a further 10-day break before traveling to Nottingham Forest – plenty of time to work on new innovations with Arteta able to reflect on more positive data. Saturday's display returned their highest expected goals (xG) of the season: 3.02. This time, they got the points that went with it.
