Eberechi Eze scored against his old club as Arsenal recorded a 1-0 win against Crystal Palace at the Emirates to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
Eze fired home from another Arsenal set-piece with a sumptuous half-volley six minutes prior to the interval before Gabriel struck the crossbar in the second half as Arsenal saw out their seventh consecutive victory.
Palace failed to muster a single shot on target against an Arsenal side which has now conceded just three times across 13 matches in all competitions so far. Arsenal's clean sheet here was their fifth in succession.
It was a far from a spectacular performance from Mikel Arteta’s men, but the triumph takes them four points clear of second-placed Bournemouth in the table, and six ahead of Manchester City following their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
Defending champions Liverpool are a further point off the championship pace.
Arsenal scored four times in 14 electric second-half minutes as they rain riot against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League earlier this week. But on Sunday, they required 33 minutes to register their first shot.
Fresh from his quickfire double against Atletico, Viktor Gyokeres did well to bounce off Maxence Lacroix and hold the ball up before bringing Declan Rice into play. Rice found Leandro Trossard but the Belgian’s first touch allowed the ball to get stuck under his feet and his subsequent shot was straight at the Palace stopper.
Speaking prior to Sunday’s match, Arteta revealed he hatched his masterplan to transform Arsenal into set-piece kings a decade ago.
On Tuesday night, Arsenal became the first team across Europe’s top five leagues to register 10 goals from free-kicks this season, and on the 39th minute that became 11.
Rice’s inswinger from the right-hand side was met by Gabriel at the far post, and who else was on hand other than Eze, to rifle the bouncing ball home with a delicious half-volley to hand his new employers the lead.
There was no celebration from Eze against the club he served for five years, but this marked a much-needed first league strike in seven attempts for the England international – with manager Thomas Tuchel watching on from the Emirates directors’ box – and for Arsenal, a 38th set-piece goal in the league since the start of 2023-24 season.
Five minutes into the second period and the crossbar prevented Arsenal from increasing that tally to 39. From a dead ball, Rice played a give-and-go with Eze before his left-footed cross was met by Gabriel but the Brazilian’s header cannoned off the goal frame.
Rice was there for the follow-up but Henderson stopped his shot with an outstretched arm. A trademark Saka long-range shot with his left instep then fell wide.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession but, with their advantage standing at just one, Oliver Glasner’s players always remained in the contest.
However, Arsenal’s defence has been breached by just one team – Manchester City – from open play this season, and, in truth, the south Londoners rarely looked like becoming the second despite a nervier-than-expected finale.
The only sour notes on another day of triumph for Arsenal in their pursuit of a first league title in 22 years arrived with injuries to William Saliba and Rice. The former was replaced at the interval, while the latter hobbled off in the closing stages.
Sean Dyche's first Premier League match in charge of Nottingham Forest ended in defeat as Bournemouth climbed to second place in the table with a 2-0 victory at the Vitality Stadium.
Forest were hoping to build on momentum from Thursday night’s 2-0 Europa League win over Porto – their first victory across all competitions since August.
Instead, they fell behind when Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring directly from a 25th-minute corner.
Junior Kroupi doubled Bournemouth’s advantage before the break, the fourth goal in the 19-year-old’s last three Cherries appearances.
Lyle Foster came off the bench and scored a dramatic last-minute winner as Burnley snatched a 3-2 Premier League victory away to bottom side Wolves.
It marked six months to the day since the hosts last won in the league – a 3-0 win over Leicester – and their wait for a first this campaign continued as they let in a late goal for the fourth game in a row.
The game had a feel of an early season 'six-pointer' for this campaign’s relegation battle and Burnley sensed the tension in the air at Wolves early on.
They pounced into a deserved two-goal lead courtesy of Zian Flemming’s first pair of Premier League goals, both assisted by Quilindschy Hartman.
The Clarets looked comfortable but the hosts made it a level game out of nowhere thanks to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s penalty and Marshall Munetsi’s first of the campaign.
Scott Parker’s side initially surrendered a two-goal lead, which looked like it would deny them a first victory on the road until Foster struck in the fifth and final minute of second-half stoppage-time.
