Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace
Report by Layth Yousif 
at the Ashburton Grove

EBERECHI EZE scored against his old club to help Arsenal to a vital 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. 

In what could be a pivotal triumph, Eze’s first-half strike ensured the Gunners moved four points clear of second placed Bournemouth, as well as six ahead of Manchester City in fourth, and seven in front of faltering champions Liverpool, stuttering in fifth.

The hard-earned triumph came after Mikel Arteta named an unchanged starting line-up from the gutsy 1-0 win at Fulham last weekend, his first successive unaltered side in the Premier League since September 2024, during a 4-2 win over Leicester.

Oliver Glasner made three changes to the team that lost to AEK Larnaca last time out, with Chris Richards, Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada returning to the starting line-up, while Jaydee Canvot, Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma dropped to the bench.

A chilly afternoon in Islington saw a slow start to proceedings with the main point of interest being Gabriel emphatically blocking Ismailia Sarr’s effort to deny the former Rennes attacker.

With a raft of Three Lions players and candidates on the pitch, it was appropriate England boss Thomas Tuchel was in attendance, although Adam Wharton’s shot before the half-hour mark was wide of David Raya’s goal.

Arsenal’s flat opening meant it was the first time since Palace returned to the top-flight in 2013 that the Gunners had failed to have a shot in the first 30 minutes of a league game against them.

Arteta’s side were finally to test Palace keeper Dean Henderson with Trossard’s low drive on 32 minutes, which the thrice capped England international safely gathered.

As the first half was drifting to a close, it was former Arsenal youth Eze who opened the scoring, with a superbly taken scissor-kick to make it 1-0 up against his former club five minutes before the interval. The ex-Eagle reacting to Gabriel’s header at the back post from Declan Rice’s free-kick, as the home crowd gleefully sang “Set Piece FC” in homage of their hugely effective direct tactical abilities.

The goal buoyed home fans’ spirits, further amplified during the break when the Arsenal PA appropriately played the rousing 1980s soft rock anthem Livin’ On A Prayer at half time, in honour of Jon Bon Jovi, who was apparently watching on.

The interval’s joviality was tempered somewhat with concern over William Saliba, after Cristhian Mosquera replaced the injured French centre-back before the start of the second half.

Undeterred, the home side nearly doubled their lead moment after the restart, when Gabriel’s powerful header struck the bar. The ball then fell to Rice — forced to later limp off — who unleashed an emphatic drive which resulted in a superb reaction stop from the alert Henderson.

There was even time for Arteta to allow Eze an ovation from the home crowd, when replacing the England international with fellow Three Lions colleague Myles Lewis-Skelly.

With such riches, no wonder England boss Tuchel looked on with admiration as Arsenal sealed a deserved win.