Arsenal vs Crystal Palace LIVE: Carabao Cup quarter-final reaction as Jesus hat-trick sends Gunners through
Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace: Three composed finishes from the Brazilian complete comeback win at the Emirates
Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 3-2 at the Emirates on Wednesday night to book their place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
A much-changed Arsenal side got off to the worst possible start when Jakub Kiwior’s mistake allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta to surge through and slot past David Raya within four minutes.
The hosts dominated much of the rest of the half, though they couldn’t fashion any clear openings, and Mikel Arteta brought on Martin Odegaard for the second half – a decision that paid off almost straight away, as the Norwegian threaded a brilliant pass to Gabriel Jesus to chip past Henderson.
The hosts continued to dominate from there, with Bukayo Saka slipping his own through ball to Jesus, who duly rifled in for 2-1.
The Brazilian wasn’t finished there though, latching onto an Odegaard through ball to power in his third of the night and the eventual winner, as the Gunners completed a remarkable turnaround and held off a late fightback from Palace.
Follow all the Carabao Cup action with our live blog below:
Gabriel Jesus offers timely solution to Arsenal’s goalscoring woes in Carabao Cup triumph
Gabriel Jesus scored a second-half hat-trick as Arsenal staged an impressive fightback to book their place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 win against Crystal Palace.
The home side were staring at an underwhelming exit from the competition at half-time after Jean-Philippe Mateta’s opener for Palace inside just four minutes.
But Jesus, who had scored just once this season heading into Wednesday’s fixture, fired a treble in the second period with substitutes Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka both central to his haul.
Gabriel Jesus offers timely solution to Arsenal’s goalscoring woes in Carabao Cup win
Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace: Jesus netted a second-half hat-trick as the Gunners came froma goal down to march into the semi-finals
When is the Carabao Cup semi-final draw? Date, start time and TV channel
The draw for the Carabao Cup semi-finals is near with the quarter-finals taking place this week.
Arsenal take on Crystal Palace, Newcastle United host Brentford and Southampton, without a permanent manager after Russell Martin’s dismissal, welcome Liverpool in a packed Wednesday night of football.
The final quarter-final sees Tottenham battle a Manchester United side bouncing off a thrilling derby win over Manchester City on Thursday night.
When are there semi-finals and final?
Arsenal now enter the draw for the semi-finals, which takes place tomorrow after the match between Spurs and Manchester United.
The semi-final ties are across two legs, with one at home and one away for each side. These will take place in on 8 January (first leg) and 5 February (second leg).
The final takes place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 16 March.
Transfer news: Tierney to leave Arsenal?
The Athletic is now reporting that Kieran Tierney will leave Arsenal at the end of the season, with the Gunners opting against extending the Scot’s contract. His current deal runs out in June.
The transfer stories begin early ahead of the January window...
Arteta: Jesus “can really deliver for us"
Mikel Arteta praises his side after the win, though he notes that they “started the game in a way that we didn’t want to, conceded that really poor goal to give them hope and energy.
“We lacked some fluidity, especially in wide areas. In the second half, we made some changes, and we looked much more of a threat.”
On Jesus, he says: “It’s about confidence, and when you haven’t scored a goal in almost a year it’s tough. You are thinking about it.
“Gabi is someone who wants to do more. He wants to work harder and help the team in any way. Today he got rewarded.
“The movement, the quality of his touches, the way he finished the actions, it’s a big thing for him and for the team.
“It’s a big message for the team, that we’ve got Gabi back at his best, and at that level he can really deliver for us.”
Jesus: “I can score goals"
Hat-trick hero Jesus tells Sky that he “can score goals” as well as create, assist, run and help his side defensively.
“When I score I think everyone sees, but when I don’t, obviously they want their striker to scroe goals.
“That’s why im working a lot in training, finishing more, [to] put myself in a good position to finish the action, and that’s it.
“Today, my hard work paid off,” he adds.
Glasner reacts
Speaking to the media, Palace boss Oliver Glasner said “it was the perfect start” to the game.
“But even in the first half we looked like we had too much respect, too cautious finding the moment to press.
“We lost the ball too easily, we were too slow, we didn’t demand the ball. We didn’t support each other in possession.”
More as it comes from both managers...
Carabao Cup results
In the evening’s other two matches, Newcastle have beaten Brentford 3-1, while Liverpool have beaten Southampton 2-1.
Tottenham Hotspur face Manchester United in the final quarter-final tie tomorrow night.
Up next
As seems to have happened fairly often recently, the next game for these two sides sees them play each other again!
This time, Arsenal travel across the capital to face Palace at Selhurst Park, with that match kicking off at 5.30pm on Saturday, 21 December.
FULL-TIME! Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace
Well, what a match that turned out to be in north London.
Arsenal started slowly but eventually their quality shone through, as Odegaard, Saka and Jesus all combined to give the Brazilian a great hat-trick.
Palace fought well at times but they were too disjointed in attack in the end, despite some decent performances across the board.
Arsenal book their place in the semi-finals, and they’ll find out their opponents tomorrow night.
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