Bukayo Saka Leads Arsenal As They Thrash Palace In The EPL

Bukayo Saka scored twice to lead Arsenal to a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, giving them a lead of eight points in the Premier League.

At the Emirates Stadium, Gabriel Martinelli scored the game's first goal to put the league leaders on track for their sixth straight victory.

The struggling Palace team was defeated by Mikel Arteta's team in just 45 minutes, erasing the sting of that defeat.

Before halftime, Saka doubled Arsenal's lead after Martinelli's score.

After the break, Granit Xhaka scored the game's third goal, and Jeff Schlupp's response offered no solace as the influential Saka's second goal completed Arsenal's elegant performance.

Manchester City, off-duty during the weekend in the Premier League, smashed Burnley in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday and is now eight points behind Arsenal in second place.

Pep Guardiola's champions will remain confident they can win a fifth championship in six seasons despite having a game in hand over Arsenal and a critical match against the Gunners on April 26.

However, Arsenal has ensured that the outcome of the title battle will depend on them in the final ten games going into the international break.

"I'm incredibly happy with how we responded following the Sporting game. We were quite determined," Arteta remarked.

"That feels great, especially considering how we performed and the outcomes we achieved".

"I was struck by the drive and vigor. They need to return from the international break in the saSaka, the first player in the Premier League this season with at least 10 goals and 10 assists, was singled out for special attention by Arteta".

"The entire team performed admirably, but Bukayo stood out today, positively impacting the outcome with his participation", he added.

We require that, I said. Our front players must perform well and make a difference, which they did again tonight.

Arsenal has recovered admirably after losing to City in February and losing the top spot; as a result, displaying maturity and composure much above the Gunners' former underachieving sides.

Arteta gets a lot of credit for turning around a team that missed out on a top-four finish the previous year.

Less than a year later, Arsenal appears as the defending champions after becoming the first English team to win nine London derbies in a single season.

The Palace game was the most crucial game of Arteta's management career, and his team once again rose to the occasion.

They had the ideal opposition in a Palace squad that had lost all 13 games so far in 2023 and was reeling from the firing of manager Patrick Vieira on Friday.

Vieira was an integral part of the 19-year-old Arsenal team, which won the league title, and the team's supporters sang his name constantly.

- A Rogue Arsenal

After Saka escaped capture by Ben White in the penalty area and returned Ben White's cross to Martinelli, Arsenal scored a breakthrough.

The Brazilian attacker avoided Joel Ward with a deft touch before putting his sixth goal in his last eight games past Joe Whitworth with a perfect finish from 12 yards.

In the 43rd minute, Saka ensured that Arsenal's constant pressure had once again paid off.

White received the ball after he had passed it back, and his pass back was perfectly weighted for England forward, who calmly finished from close range into the far corner.

In the 55th minute, Xhaka put the outcome beyond question as Arsenal continued to dominate.

Before Xhaka skillfully finished Leandro Trossard's through-ball, the visitors were perplexed by a lavish exchange of passes in the Palace area.

As Arsenal failed to successfully clear a corner kick in the 63rd minute, Schlupp poked Palace's first league goal in almost seven hours.

But Saka had the final say with his 13th goal of the year, a beautiful first-time effort off a feed from Kieran Tierney in the 74th minute.