We made it two wins out of two against Crystal Palace last week with an impressive 5-1 victory away to the Eagles on Saturday.
To discover just why we were so devastating at Selhurst Park, Adrian Clarke has poured through the footage and stats to unearth these five key takeaways from the game:
playing the numbers game
From the very first whistle Mikel Arteta’s side set out to be attack-minded, and that positivity reaped its rewards, especially in a chaotic first half.
With numbers flooding the Crystal Palace box as often as possible, we set up several situations that left us with a numerical advantage inside the danger zone.
All that was needed was a quality delivery from out wide, and for our first and third goals that happened courtesy of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
Tellingly, both strikes came from moments where our wide men took the ball past their marker on the outside rather than playing a safe, inswinging cross.
For the opener (below) we had six players inside the area when Saka crossed, but most importantly there was a 4v3 at the far post.
With Gabriel Maghalaes (who had stayed forward from a set play), Thomas Partey and Martinelli occupying defenders, Gabriel Jesus was our spare man.
Once the ball fell his way, the resurgent Brazilian never looked like missing.
Our third goal saw the Gunners deliberately manufacture a 3v2 towards the far post.
Kai Havertz had made a run into the box that effectively left wing back Nathaniel Clyne outnumbered in a 2v1.
The moment Jesus headed onto the post, the Eagles defender – who was worried about Leandro Trossard behind him – was left helpless when Havertz tapped in.
Football is all about moving your pieces (players) around the pitch, looking to create numerical advantages.
We did it twice to brilliant effect during a wild opening 45 minutes in south London.
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See a full match replay of our big win at Palace](https://www.arsenal.com/news/see-full-match-replay-our-big-win-palace?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
martinelli shone down the right
It was a huge blow to lose Bukayo Saka to an early injury, but the one upside saw Martinelli prove he can comfortably slot into that right wing position to impact Premier League matches.
The 23-year-old scored from close range to take his tally to four top-flight goals for the campaign, but it was his desire to impress that stood out most.
On the ball Martinelli tried his luck with six dribbles, and he made three key passes, including an assist.
Out of possession, the South American was as sprightly as we have seen him all season.
His athletic data from this Selhurst Park clash was extremely impressive, making far more sprints and intensive runs than anyone else.
|martinelli v palace|AFC Rank|
|---|---|---|
|Sprints|31|1st|
|Intensive runs|395|1st|
|Top speed|32/10km/hr|1st|
|Distance ran|11.52km|2nd|
Going back to the start of 2020/21, Martinelli has never covered more ground, or made a greater number of sprints in a Premier League match.
game date opponent home/away distance (km)
21/12/2024 Crystal Palace A 11.52
01/03/2023 Everton H 11.48
01/05/2022 West Ham United A 11.41
game date opponent home/away Sprints
21/12/2024 Crystal Palace A 31
12/03/2023 Fulham A 30
13/03/2022 Leicester City H 30
Following Saka’s lead, Martinelli also got himself into the opposition box with more frequency than we have seen from him for a while.
His 11 touches inside the Palace area led the way for Arteta’s side, with Gabriel Jesus the next closest on six.
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Martinelli reflects on ‘deserved’ win at Palace](https://www.arsenal.com/news/martinelli-reflects-deserved-win-palace?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
riding the palace storm
The 5-1 scoreline looks fantastic, but it does not reflect the bravery of Crystal Palace’s display, or the attacking threat they carried.
In a proactive 3-4-2-1 the Eagles pressed us with fierce hostility, making 254 pressures (to our 139), gaining turnovers from 32 of those situations.
They forced a few mistakes, and that meant David Raya had to produce five saves on the night.
His first half save, spreading himself to block Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot was the pick of the bunch, but two excellent stops from Ismaila Sarr also stood out early in the second half.
Those three Palace chances alone were worth 0.858 expected goals, so we were indebted to the Spaniard’s reflexes once again.
Oliver Glasner’s use of twin No.10s also caused up problems for the first hour of this encounter, with Thomas Partey finding himself a little isolated at the base of our midfield.
Naming Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz as our box-to-box midfielders brought attacking positives, but at times we did have too many players ahead of the ball.
This shot (below) is from the build-up to Sarr’s equaliser. Here, Palace moved the ball wide and then fed it back inside, with the Senegalese star in bags of space between the lines.
Until Declan Rice came on just before the hour mark, we just did not get the balance between attack and defence spot on inside the engine room, with too much room afforded to Sarr and Kamada.
Thankfully our record signing had a very stabilising effect once he entered the fray.
a barnstorming cameo from the bench
Delivering calm authority, leadership, nous, a fine goal and an assist, Declan Rice’s stellar second half performance paved the way for this heavy win.
Scoring five plus goals in six different away games in 2024, that is the most ever by an English top-flight team in all competitions.
The England international could not have been more commanding, taking this match by the scruff of the neck as soon as he came off the bench.
His 30 passes made him only five short of Havertz, despite playing significantly fewer minutes, and he moved the ball with quality too.
This chalkboard shows his passes, shots and defensive contributions.
Barely putting a foot wrong, Rice governed the final third of this London derby.
jesus justified selection
No other player has ever scored in 61 different Premier League games and never been on the losing side, but Gabriel Jesus’ incredible record continued at the weekend.
The manager rejigged his starting XI to accommodate the Brazilian up front, after seeing him destroy Crystal Palace with a midweek hat-trick, and the call paid off handsomely.
Firing off five shots, Jesus was unlucky not to take the match ball home yet again.
Hitting the post with a fantastic header, and seeing another effort brilliantly saved, he could easily have netted four times.
I particularly enjoyed the position he took up before curling home a precise second.
Glasner instructed the Eagles to leave three up front for Arsenal’s corners, a very risky ploy that backfired. (see below)
We were happy to defend in a 3v3 as they left Jesus unattended on the edge of the 18-yard box - and we also held a key numerical advantage at the far post.
As you can see from this image, a 4v3 was set up in that domain, with Jesus left all alone to show for a setback.
Once the ball dropped at his feet, Partey obliged, and our on-song number nine scored his fifth goal of the week against Palace.
Jesus’ selection certainly added more unpredictability and chaos to Arsenal’s forward line.
The Eagles’ ultra-positive approach also helped, as their tactics left us more space than we have experienced in recent outings.
Going toe to toe with Arteta’s side is a gamble, and in this match, we made the hosts pay for their ambition.
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