Gabriel heads Arsenal back to winning ways in thrashing of Crystal Palace

Arsenal may still be looking to unlock Gabriel Jesus’s goalscoring potential but they were perfectly satisfied by a game-breaking contribution from his namesake. Two first-half headers from Gabriel Magalhães, the second converted via the Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson, exposed weak defending at corners and offered a timely reminder that Mikel Arteta’s side are far from a lost cause.

They wrapped things up through Leandro Trossard after the interval and two added-time goals from Gabriel Martinelli and, while a wretched Palace were present in body only, sailed through with a level of comfort that matched many of their early-season performances. Palace gave the under-fire Roy Hodgson little suggestion they could eke out a result here and the sight of Graham Potter looking on from the stands, no doubt with some interest, may have added fuel to those calling for a change of manager.

Before kick-off Arteta had described his side as “recharged and re-energised” by a break in Dubai that had shaken off the insecurities of their recent stutter. It took little time for them to show it and Palace, who must have hoped a five-man defence would hold out slightly longer, were breached in elementary fashion. Arsenal had started sharply enough, the returning Jesus blasting over from an angle, and had their first chance to load the box when Trossard won a corner from Nathaniel Clyne.

Declan Rice’s set piece was hung, floated and openly inviting an aerial contest. In the end it met no such competition: the only player straining every sinew to reach the ball was Gabriel, who completely outfought Chris Richards and rose high to plant a header into Henderson’s bottom-left corner.

Midway through the half Gabriel was first to another corner, this time cleverly chipped by Bukayo Saka, but finished waywardly. By then Arsenal had twice come close to forcing own goals from Palace: once when a ricochet off Jefferson Lerma glanced off the woodwork and again when Richards, intervening to present a Saka centre reaching Jesus, sliced just off target. Had either aberration brought a second goal, the outcome would already have been beyond doubt.

Gabriel Martinelli scores Arsenal’s fourth goal in added time, and still found time to score a fifth to cap Arsenal’s victory. Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Instead Arsenal, as they do in spells, drifted. Palace posed little menace beyond the bustle of Jean-Philippe Mateta but won a dangerous free-kick just after the half-hour, planted into the wall by Eberechi Eze. From the loose ball, Clyne’s cross-shot almost found Mateta. Then, with Arsenal yet to get up the pitch, David Raya cleared straight to Lerma and needed smart readjustment to tip the resulting 25-yard drive wide at full stretch.

Despite this there was no real sense of jeopardy. Arsenal clearly had too much whenever they went through the gears and, as if jolted into action, they promptly scored again. A Martin Ødegaard backheel sent Saka to the byline but the angle was too tight for him to complete a cross. The second prize of a corner was accepted with a delicious inswinging delivery that Gabriel, running around the back and again making mincemeat of Richards, headed in via Henderson’s body. It went down as an own goal. Palace’s complaints that the keeper had been blocked off by Ben White drew no sympathy from the video assistant referee.

There could have been no conjecture if Trossard, rather than shooting off target, had scored a third before half-time. In truth Arsenal had been at nothing like full stretch in amassing their two-goal advantage.

The fact Palace’s travelling support greeted a spell of possession with olés early in the second period spoke of the prevailing gloom around Hodgson’s side. In fact they might have scored at the end of it when Eze, shooting early in an attempt to fool Raya, forced a sprawling save from range. It almost had the same effect as Lerma’s earlier salvo: Arsenal went straight down the other end and, after some fine play from Kai Havertz, Jesus laid on a chance that Trossard miscued badly.

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The Belgian made no mistake from an almost identical situation just before the hour. Palace, showing more attacking intent, had wasted a corner and Arsenal could break after Raya had caught Will Hughes’s aimless ball back in. The keeper swiftly released Jesus, who had recently failed miserably to buy a penalty, and watched as he hared down the right. He located Trossard again and this time, via a check inside the unbalanced Clyne, he rifled emphatically past Henderson.

Eze forced Raya to parry over with another free-kick but the game was up for Palace, who had been far too late in operating proactively. Arteta sought to maintain Arsenal’s impetus with a double change involving Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe, who has been the subject of loan overtures from West Ham. Only an interception from Richards denied Smith Rowe the chance to get his season up and running at last, but his fellow substitute added gloss with two identical low finishes past Henderson in added time.