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One Arsenal star is close to a suspension after picking up four yellow cards
The Gunners face their London rivals for a second-straight game after beating the Eagles 3-2 in the last eight of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. That win set up a two-legged semi-final with Newcastle United. Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick in midweek to give his season a much-needed lift. The ex-Manchester City forward netted three times in the second half after the hosts had gone down to a fourth-minute goal.
The striker's only goal of the season before his midweek hat-trick was against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup. He is yet to score in the Premier League and is currently walking a suspension tightrope after picking up four yellow cards in the league. Premier League rules state that players who receive a total of five yellow cards in a club's first 19 matches will be given a one-match suspension. Arsenal have played 16 games so far as they prepare for festive fixtures with Palace, Ipswich Town and Brentford. If Jesus is booked against Palace he will be suspended for the clash against the Tractor Boys while he could miss the Brentford fixture if cautioned against Ipswich. Three of Jesus' yellow cards came when he was a late substitute as he got booked against Wolves, Man City and Liverpool. His last caution came in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates.
Speaking after his hat-trick on Wednesday, Jesus said: “It feels amazing. Obviously the first half wasn’t our best, but still in the second half we did our job, we created more, we kept the ball more, circulated the ball, made passes and then Martin put in two amazing balls in the end and B as well, and I could finish the action.
“Against Monaco I missed two clear chances, but they were more difficult than today. Obviously, I was disappointed that I didn’t score in that game. At the end, I just have to keep my mind clear and strong, work like I work with [coach Hussein] Isa every day and he told me: “Look Gabby, you’re quality, you need to be calm and then you’ll score.” That’s what I did today and I’m happy to come back to score goals, because I have the number nine and the pressure will always be there to score goals. That’s it, that’s the challenge.”
Looking ahead to a second game with Palace, Jesus continued: “I think everyone is [looking forward to it], not just me. They have a lot of qualities up front, down the middle, at the back, so we have to compete and then obviously go there to win the game. We know it’s not easy, like today, they have quality players, a strong team, that’ll be another war, and we’ll have to try to win the game.”
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