Eberechi Eze scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal as the leaders’ set-piece expertise secured a 1-0 win against his former club Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Eze struck late in the first half at the Emirates Stadium to ensure Arsenal took full advantage of the latest losses for title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City.
The England midfielder had netted just once in 10 previous appearances for the Gunners in all competitions since arriving from Palace in a £60 million ($79 million) deal in August.
Having finished as runners-up for the last three years, Arsenal’s seventh win from nine league games added to the growing feeling that this could be the season they finally end their title drought.
Mikel Arteta’s side are four points clear of second-placed Bournemouth and, more significantly, six ahead of Manchester City and seven clear of Liverpool.
Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at Brentford on Saturday left the champions’ title defence in turmoil after a fourth successive top-flight loss.
Chasing a first English title since 2004 and a first trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, Arsenal have reeled off seven successive wins in all competitions.
The Gunners have only conceded three goals in their 13 games in all competitions this season, a parsimonious run including 10 clean-sheets.
The only concern for Arteta was Declan Rice limping off in the second half after William Saliba was unable to continue beyond the interval due to a potential injury.
With rock star Jon Bon Jovi watching from the stands, Palace threatened to start in a blaze of glory when Jean-Philippe Mateta raced clear, but Arsenal were able to snuff out the danger.
Saliba had to make a last-ditch block to stop Ismaila Sarr in his tracks as the Palace winger threatened to give the visitors a shock lead.
Aside from those early scares, Arteta’s men dominated possession as they tried to prise open Palace’s well-drilled defence.
It took Arsenal 33 minutes to muster their first shot as Leandro Trossard’s low drive from just inside the penalty area was well held by Dean Henderson.
But Arsenal’s prowess at free-kicks and corners has seen them dubbed “Set-Piece FC” and once again they struck from a dead ball situation.
They became the first team in Europe’s top five leagues to score 10 goals from set-pieces this season after tormenting Atletico Madrid from dead balls in the midweek Champions League rout.
They took that tally to 11 in the 39th minute.
Rice curled a free-kick into the Palace area and Gabriel Magalhaes headed down to Eze, who showed impressive technique to meet it on the bounce and guide an agile finish past Henderson from 12 yards.
Eze’s celebration, raising his arm to the sky with little expression on his face, was muted out of respect to Palace.
Cristhian Mosquera replaced Saliba at half-time and Arsenal were inches away from immediately doubling their lead.
Gabriel’s header smacked off the crossbar and rebounded to Rice, whose close-range shot was well saved by Henderson.
When the ball was recycled to Bukayo Saka on the edge of the area, the Arsenal forward went close himself with a curler that whistled just wide.
Gabriel should have increased Arsenal’s set-piece goal total when he headed wide from virtually on the line, a miss that ended painfully as he needed treatment after crashing into the post.
Having delivered his first significant contribution to Arsenal’s title charge, Eze departed in the closing stages to a standing ovation that even Palace fans joined in.
By Agencies
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