Arsenal fell behind early, but Gabriel Jesus willed them to victory over Crystal Palace with a second-half hat trick in the quarterfinals of the League Cup on Wednesday.
MORE - League Cup schedule & results
Jean-Philippe Mateta was simply too much for the Arsenal backline to handle in the 4th minute, as he staked the Eagles to a lead that would last until the 54th minute when Jesus dinked the ball over Dean Henderson to give the Gunners a deserved equalizer. The floodgates didn’t open immediately, but it was mostly one-way traffic until Jesus made it 2-1 and 3-1 in the 73rd and 81st. Eddie Nketiah scored against his boyhood club to make it 3-2 with five minutes of regular time left to play, but neither side had another shot after that.
Arsenal will play one of Newcastle, Southampton/Liverpool and Tottenham/Manchester United in the semifinals in early January (first leg) and early February (second leg) before the final at Wembley Stadium on March 16. The semifinal draw will take place on Thursday following the conclusion of Tottenham vs Man United.
Player ratings - Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
What’s next?
A rematch. Crystal Palace vs Arsenal — Saturday (12:30 pm ET)
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace live updates - by Andy Edwards
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace final score: 3-2
Goalscorers: Jean-Philippe Mateta (4'), Gabriel Jesus (54', 73', 81'), Eddie Nketiah (85')
GOAL! Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace: Nketiah punishes boyhood club with a fantastic header (85')
Eddie Nketiah against his boyhood club 👀
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 18, 2024
This one is NOT over 😱 pic.twitter.com/7U3JSGjkwL
GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Crystal Palace: Gabriel Jesus gets his hat trick, completes the comeback (81')
GABRIEL JESUS HAT TRICK FOR ARSENAL 🎩🎩🎩
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 18, 2024
His first 3+ goal game since scoring four against Watford on April 23, 2022 ⚽⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/OT2ep8UE4f
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace: Jesus fires home to put the Gunners ahead (73')
GABRIEL JESUS HAS HIS BRACE AND ARSENAL LEAD AT THE EMIRATES 💪 pic.twitter.com/EepmRAUxdW
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 18, 2024
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace: Jesus finally pulls the Gunners level (54')
GABRIEL JESUS CHIPS DEAN HENDERSON 💪
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 18, 2024
Arsenal back in this one 🔴 pic.twitter.com/9hvA4q4Tvb
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Crystal Palace: Mateta shrugs off Kiwior for an early opener (4')
PROPER ROUTE ONE FOOTBALL FROM CRYSTAL PALACE 🦅
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) December 18, 2024
Arsenal are stunned early at The Emirates 😱 pic.twitter.com/fNJzwodIZW
Arsenal starting lineup
Raya - Timber, Kiwior, Partey, Tierney - Jorginho, Nwaneri, Merino - Trossard, Sterling, Jesus
Crystal Palace starting lineup
Henderson - Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi - Kporha, Lerma, Hughes, Mitchell - Sarr, Eze, Mateta
How to watch Arsenal vs Crystal Palace live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 2:30pm ET Wednesday (December 18)
Venue: Emirates Stadium — London
TV Channel: Paramount+
Streaming: Paramount+
The Gunners have been struggling to score from open play in recent weeks, with their last three goals in their last three Premier League games all coming from set-pieces. Arteta was generally happy with their performance in a 0-0 draw at home to Everton on Saturday but demanded more in the final third. Arsenal will rotate a little for this quarterfinal but Arteta knows this competition is a great opportunity to get to Wembley and win a first major trophy since his first season in charge.
Crystal Palace have had a real uptick in results under Oliver Glasner as they won 3-1 away at rivals Crystal Palace on Sunday and are unbeaten in five games in the Premier League, picking up nine points in that run. The Eagles are dangerous on the counter attack and Arsenal will have to be wary of that as they poured so many players forward against Everton on Saturday. Palace are much better at countering than Everton.
Arsenal team news, focus
The likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus, Jorginho, Kieran Tierney and Raheem Sterling will all surely start as Arsenal will rotate in a few fringe players. But Arsenal don’t have many options in defense so there may not be much rotation there. Declan Rice will have a late fitness test for this game, so Merino and Jorginho could both start.
OUT: Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Ben White (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Riccardo Calafiori (knee), Oleksandr Zinchenko (undisclosed), Declan Rice (unknown)
Crystal Palace team news, focus
The trio of Mateta, Eze and Sarr up top are a real handful and Sarr in particular is growing into a real presence at Palace and is perfect for their system. The 3-4-2-1 system is working well for Palace and they are tough to play against again.
OUT: Adam Wharton (groin), Rob Holding (undisclosed), Matheus Franca (groin)
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace prediction
This feels like Arsenal will just get the job done and a few fringe players will stand tall in a thriller. Arsenal 3-2 Crystal Palace.
