3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's comeback win over Crystal Palace

Arsenal were made to work for the win as they came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.

The Gunners found themselves behind early on when Palace's hero of 2024, Jean-Philippe Mateta, pounced on a defensive mix-up to put the visitors one up. A poor first 45 saw Mikel Arteta make changes at the break, which had a great impact on his side's second-half performance.

Substitute Martin Odegaard played a brilliant pass for Gabriel Jesus to chip a delightful effort over Dean Henderson to level it up. The Brazilian then grabbed his second with a powerful shot that beat the England international to put his side ahead. Jesus completed his first competitive hat-trick for Arsenal when he netted with just under ten minutes to play. Former Gunners frontman Eddie Nketiah pulled one back for Palace late on with a great header but Arteta's side saw out the victory to put themselves through to the semi-finals.

As Arsenal went a step closer to winning only their second trophy under Mikel Arteta, there were a number of positives and negatives for them to take from their 3-2 quarter-final win over Crystal Palace.

Positive #1: Game-changing decisions

Mikel Arteta has often been criticized for being reluctant to make in-game decisions that would better Arsenal, but he had a change of heart against Crystal Palace. With his side trailing 1-0 at the break, the Spaniard made a number of decisions that changed the game completely.

William Saliba was brought on in place of Thomas Partey, allowing Jurrien Timber to move out to right back. The Dutchman offered so much more out on the flank as he was allowed to get much higher up the pitch while Saliba's introduction offered more solidity at the back. Martin Odegaard also came on, replacing a struggling Ethan Nwaneri and he made a huge difference. The skipper assisted Gabriel Jesus' first and third goals.

Arteta's decisions later in the game also made an impact with the perhaps risky decision to bring on key man Bukayo Saka paying off. The winger followed in his captain's footsteps to set up Jesus for the second goal. The gaffer's changes certainly helped change the game by swaying it in Arsenal's favour.

Negative #1: Conceded early on

It was not the greatest of starts for the Gunners against Palace as they conceded inside four minutes to see themselves behind. Jean-Philippe Mateta got the better of Jakub Kiwior to break in behind and put the visitors a goal to the good.

Conceding early on is never good, but against Palace, it really dampened Arsenal's mood. In a game that was imperative for the Gunners to win, the early concession certainly put pressure on them.

While Arsenal eventually won, it could have been a different story had their substitutes not made the impact they did. Letting in an early goal, especially through a mistake, can prove crucial on many occasions, and the Gunners were lucky that wasn't the case.

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