Hat-trick hero Gabriel Jesus was the star of the show, with the help of the instant impact of substitutes Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, as Arsenal came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 and reach the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early opener gave Palace the lead, but Jesus levelled the scoring with a cool lob early in the second half. The Brazilian then put the Gunners ahead with a powerful strike into the bottom left corner, and Odegaard sent him on the counter-attack to secure the third of the night.
Hale End Academy graduate Eddie Nketiah made sure of a nervy ending for Arsenal when he headed past David Raya with five minutes to go. It took just four minutes for the visitors to open the scoring when Mateta got on the end of a long ball over the top from Dean Henderson and muscled off Jakub Kiwior before picking out the bottom right corner on his left foot.
Arsenal hoped to respond courtesy of a Leandro Trossard corner, which came out to Jesus on the right of the 18-yard box, but his shot towards the bottom left corner was too soft to trouble Henderson.
Palace gave the ball away moments later and Raheem Sterling found Trossard, who fired over the bar first time. Ismaila Sarr’s shot was then deflected but Raya still made the save with Palace looking for a second, before Eberechi Eze tried to catch out Arsenal goalkeeper with a shot towards goal from almost the halfway line, but it sailed over the bar.
Trossard continued to look like one of the most likely attacking outlets, beating Caleb Kporha on the left and winning a free-kick that was ultimately punched clear by Henderson.
