Arsenal cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory against Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium to get their form back on track.
Goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli saw Mikel Arteta’s side move to within two points of Liverpool, and recover from three consecutive defeats in the best way possible.
Arteta made several changes for the game, with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Trossard coming in for starts, and his decisions clearly paid off as his team delivered a strong performance to produce an excellent result.
Two of the goals came from Martinelli in the dying stages of the game, and these meant that Arsenal now lead the Premier League in a stat which highlights the brilliance of Arteta’s substitutes.
Arsenal’s substitutes have provided more goals than any other team
Martinelli’s brace has meant that Arsenal’s substitutes have now scored 10 goals off the bench this season, which is a total just behind Brighton in 12.
However, the assists for the brace were provided by fellow substitutes Jorginho and Eddie Nketiah, and this brought Arsenal’s total in this regard up to six, meaning Arsenal’s combined goal and assist tally from the bench stands at 16, which is the best in the league.
This comes despite Arteta receiving criticism for the impact his substitution decisions have sometimes had. Trossard replacing Martinelli has been a big problem at times, as Arsenal lost their pace out wide whenever Arteta has made this call.
Mikel Arteta’s substitutions were spot-on against Crystal Palace
Some have previously criticised the timing of Arteta’s in-game changes, but they were perfect in the victory over Palace.
Although Arsenal were dominant throughout, they were winning 3-0 heading into injury time, and with two of these goals coming from set-pieces, it was hardly an electric performance.
However, Jorginho replaced Declan Rice, who had felt a problem in his hamstring, Nketiah replaced Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli replaced Trossard.
Martinelli’s first goal saw Nketiah play an excellent through pass, before he cut inside and finished, before Jorginho played him in behind again less than two minutes later, and he produced the exact same finish to extend Arsenal’s lead again.
Emile Smith Rowe also put on a good display as he replaced Kai Havertz, and Arteta’s substitutions killed the game, gave fringe players valuable game time, and improved Arsenal’s goal difference, and it was a perfect day at the office for the Spaniard regarding his team selection and tactical decisions.
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