3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's 5-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace

Arsenal ended their poor run of form in spectacular fashion after dismantling Crystal Palace in a 5-0 home win.

The Gunners showed some worrying signs in the first half that their attacking woes may persist after several big chances went astray, but two headed goals from Gabriel Magalhaes earned Mikel Arteta's side a thoroughly deserved 2-0 lead at half-time.

The second half saw much of the same at first, with Arsenal by far the better team but seeing early chances slip past without being capitalised on. This was until the 59th minute when, after an excellent long throw-out from David Raya, Gabriel Jesus played through Leandro Trossard who beat the solitary defender before dispatching a superb shot to make it 3-0.

Arsenal continued to dominate the game and, as it looked to be nearing an uneventful conclusion, it was substitute Gabriel Martinelli who scored a near identical brace within 60 seconds during injury time, placing both shots across the goal and beyond the reach of Dean Henderson.

This spectacular finish to the game saw Arsenal reign supreme as 5-0 victors on the day as we rose to third in the Premier League table, a much-needed change in fortunes given our difficult upcoming fixtures.

3 positives & negatives from Arsenal's 5-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace

In a game with so much action, there were plenty of talking points, both good and bad so, with that in mind, here are three positives and negatives from Arsenal's 5-0 win at home to Crystal Palace.

Positive #1: Set pieces can be our weapon

Our halftime lead, which completely changed the game for Arsenal, came courtesy of two excellently taken headers from set-pieces - and these could prove invaluable to us over the course of the season.

After yesterday's game, Arsenal have now scored more set-piece goals (12) than any other team in the Premier League this season, with the team clearly looking to weaponise them, perhaps to counteract our lack of goals from elsewhere on the pitch of late.

It is clear that the work of our set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, has paid off so far this season and that the team is set up perfectly to capitalise on these situations - especially given the aerial dominance of Gabriel and William Saliba.

Negative #1: Striking options continue to frustrate

While it might seem harsh to criticise our goalscoring fresh off the back of a 5-0 win, the fact remains that our 'star' striker, Jesus, still has just three Premier League goals this season, and has had just two shots on target in his last four games for the club.

While he has had far less playing time than the Brazilian, Eddie Nketiah has also not scored a Premier League goal since October when, perhaps ironically, he scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United.

Adding goals to our game from elsewhere, like set-pieces, will certainly alleviate some of the problems caused by the lack of goals from our striking options, but it remains true that Arsenal need a world-class striker if we are to have a realistic chance of winning major honours.

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