Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Preview: Rebirth of Jesus serves a timely reminder of goalscoring capability
Gabriel Jesus had his ketchup bottle moment on Wednesday night. If you’re not familiar with the analogy, it’s when a striker on a goal drought finally scores - and then suddenly can’t seem to stop.
Jesus scored his first goal since October, and his first goal at the Emirates Stadium since last December, against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-final. It was a beauty, too, truly belying the reality that he’s looked woefully short of confidence and sharpness in the box for some time now.
He rode Marc Guehi’s challenge expertly, then dinked the ball over the onrushing - and bang in form - goalkeeper Dean Henderson. It was, genuinely, brilliant. Shortly after, he held off Maxence Lacroix and used his studs to roll the ball to the side, wriggling away from him and getting a shot off. Seriously, who’s the guy wearing No.9? It doesn’t look like the Jesus we’ve seen throughout 2024.
Two more goals followed, both lashed finishes across the ‘keeper, completing a special hat-trick and a special night for the Brazilian. His five shots was the most of any player and accounted for just under half of Arsenal’s total tally (12); only Jurrien Timber (3) completed more dribbles than the Brazilian (2), and he naturally bagged the highest WhoScored rating on the pitch (9.23). He was the best rated player in the quarter-finals of the competition.
⭐️ #CarabaoCup Player of the Round - @GabrielJesus9#AFC | @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/GlVG9hIkjT
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 20, 2024
The timing of this flurry is fitting on two counts. First, it lays the foundation for a million puns based on his name and time of the year; and second, with the January transfer window rapidly approaching, it serves as a stark reminder to Mikel Arteta of what he’s capable of at a very important time.
Calls for Arsenal to invest in their forward line have been getting louder by the game. Half the football world thinks they should sign a bonafide, goalscoring No.9; the other half disagree, but accept the Gunners need more from the supporting pieces to make up the slack. Gabriel Martinelli’s impactfulness has dipped severely - he failed to complete a single dribble against 39-year-old Ashley Young last weekend - and Martin Odegaard has begun to struggle with the demands on his body after an intense return from a nasty ankle injury.
It’s been close to 5.5 hours since Arsenal scored a league goal from open play, resulting in fans using generative AI software to mock up pictures of William Saliba and co. in Stoke City kits. "Set Piece FC" is a wilfully disingenuous description of them, but as with all wilfully disingenuous descriptions, there’s a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
Arsenal need more, much more, from anyone not named Odegaard or Bukayo Saka. That either comes from within, or from elsewhere via the market; those are the stakes.
Jesus rose to the occasion at a time where all others have struggled to. No one will expect him to become suddenly, consistently prolific, but he’s hit double figures in three separate Premier League seasons in the past and until early this year was a key cog in a free-moving attack that, it’s easy to forget, opened teams up with ease.
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As the Arsenal hierarchy count the beans and consider potential moves ahead of a transfer window where they’ll surely do something to try and close the gap between themselves and the top, Jesus may just have given Arteta pause for thought. With another meeting with Crystal Palace looming, Jesus has another chance to rob the Eagles of yet more Christmas cheer when the pair face off at Selhurst Park in another London Derby.
