Arsenal are into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals after a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium, but it took a much-improved second half performance after initially falling behind.
Jean-Philippe Mateta struck early for the visitors from south London and the Gunners were largely tame and lacklustre throughout the opening 45 minutes. Indeed their best chances came from set-pieces and it looked like a continuation of recent problems.
But a double half-time change, followed by the introduction of Bukayo Saka midway through the second half, made all the difference. With Martin Odegaard, William Saliba and Saka on the pitch, it laid the foundation for Gabriel Jesus to go on and score a decisive hat-trick.
Eddie Nketiah pulled one back to narrow the score-line near the end, but this was ultimately Arsenal’s night.
How the game unfolded
The game was in only its fourth minute when Palace broke the deadlock. A long ball over the top from goalkeeper Dean Henderson took the entire Arsenal team out of the game and, when Jakub Kiwior missed his header, Mateta was through on goal. The Frenchman kept his nerve and held off the frantic attentions of Kiwior to finish low across David Raya into the far corner of the goal.
The Gunners proceeded to dominate and had half chances through Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard, while there almost a corner goal when Jefferson Lerma cleared off the line. But a mistake in his own half from Gabriel Jesus let Ismaila Sarr drive at the defence and sting Raya’s palms.
Another set-piece half an hour in and presented Arsenal’s next big opportunity. Raheem Sterling stood over a free-kick and attempted to pick out the top corner, but Henderson was there to parry the well struck effort behind for a corner.
Mikel Arteta wanted more from his team and turned to Martin Odegaard at the interval. Within minutes of the restart, a re-energised Gunners properly opened Palace up for the first time and the collective Emirates crowd couldn’t believe Sterling didn’t equalise with a glorious double chance. He was denied by the sprawling Henderson upon meeting Kieran Tierney’s searching far post cross, before somehow turning the rebound onto the crossbar.
In the melee that followed, Leandro Trossard struck from distance to force an unconventional save from Henderson, while Mikel Merino fired narrowly wide from a similar range. But the pressure paid off when Odegaard threaded an inch-perfect pass into Jesus. The Brazilian evaded a sliding challenge from Trevoh Chalobah and then confidently dinked the ball over Henderson.
Henderson kept Palace level when Jesus spun Maxence Lacroix and poked towards goal, but he was powerless to stop Jesus from firing Arsenal into the lead with just under 20 minutes left. Played in by substitute Bukayo Saka between the lines, he had all the time in the world to pick his spot, going for sheer power to beat the goalkeeper and ripple the net.
There was a slight question of offside over the second, although without VAR in use in the Carabao Cup it didn’t matter, but the third from Jesus was most definitely onside. The striker by now bristling with confidence was in his own half when the pass from Odegaard was played into Palace’s empty side of the pitch. Bearing down on goal, there was no doubting the finish would hit the net.
Palace looked to have given up the tie moving into the final stages, but then threatened to make it a nervy finish for the hosts when Nketiah strained every muscle in his neck to generate a powerful header from Nathaniel Clyne’s cross.
Mikel Arteta put his faith in squad depth here. Arsenal began with six of their usual starters on the bench, while Declan Rice wasn’t risked after being a doubt in the buildup.
But with Gabriel and William Saliba watching on, and injuries to other defenders in the squad, there was a patched up feel to the back four – Jurrien Timber shuffled across to the middle, Thomas Partey filled in at right-back again, and Kieran Tierney made his first Arsenal appearance in 16 months.
It was only when Arteta turned to the bench at half-time to put Martin Odegaard into midfield and William Saliba at the heart of the defence that the Gunners began to perform. The latter switch allowed Timber to move back to the right and he could do way more than Partey on the ball.
Within ten minutes of the second half kicking off, Arsenal had taken more shots than in the entire first half and were back level. Then, when Bukayo Saka came on with around a quarter of the game to play, he had set up the go-ahead goal within three minutes.
For Gabriel Jesus, this game was a year and a day since the last time he scored at the Emirates Stadium – that goal coming against Brighton & Hove Albion eight days before Christmas 2023.
Given that length of time, and his general poor form so far this season – his only goal anywhere came away against Preston North End in the previous round of the Carabao Cup – he took his equalising goal with remarkable confidence and composure.
Jesus could have been forgiven for going to ground in search of a penalty when Trevoh Chalobah came flying in, as there was certainly enough contact to warrant asking the question. But he saw that the goal was at his mercy and chose to stay upright instead. It meant taking an extra split second to steady himself, but the eventual finish was majestic.
Of course, having waited 367 days for one goal, another one followed in 19 minutes, and the third came just eight minutes after that. A hat-trick in under half an hour.
Had VAR been in use in the Carabao Cup, there would likely have been an intense review of Jesus’ second goal and it could easily have been chalked off. It was a tight call, but it felt perfectly okay for the decision to be made by the naked eye of the assistant referee. If it was wrong, it wasn’t obviously wrong, and Palace would have had no complaints had they benefitted from something similar.
When VAR scrutinises every centimetre, a more natural approach was refreshing.
Whether you think Arsenal have won one or three trophies during Mikel Arteta’s five years in charge – he thinks it’s the latter, the Gunners are genuine contenders to lift the Carabao Cup.
Arsenal last won the trophy in 1993, back when it was called the Coca-Cola Cup. They have only reached the semi-final stage on one other occasion since 2018 and have only reached one final since a shock Wembley defeat to Birmingham City more than 13 years ago.
When every cup matters, this has real merit.
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