Eberechi Eze’s first-half goal against his former club was all Arsenal needed to grind out another 1–0 win at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners were worthy winners at the Emirates but also had plenty to celebrate based on results at Brentford and Aston Villa. Liverpool’s limp loss in west London on Saturday was compounded by Manchester City’s 1–0 reverse in Birmingham, ensuring that Arsenal are at least six points clear of the two teams which have won the previous eight Premier League titles between them.
Another defensively sound display for Mikel Arteta’s side ensures they are four points clear of any club—their closest challengers this weekend being the unlikely pairing of Bournemouth and Sunderland—giving the Emirates Stadium tentative hope that this year may be a little different.
Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Crystal Palace (4-3-3)
GK: David Raya—8.2: Not unduly tested by any means.
RB: Jurriën Timber—7.4: Not the tallest member of a squad which Mikel Merino has previously likened to a “basketball team” but perhaps the strongest. Timber’s steely resolve saw him scarcely given up possession and routinely win it back.
CB: William Saliba—6.7: Strolled around the defensive third without breaking a sweat, which made his half-time substitution all the more unexpected.
CB: Gabriel—7.7: Played Jean-Philippe Mateta hard and firm, getting on the end of far better chances than Palace’s striker was afforded.
LB: Riccardo Calafiori—7.1: Scarcely gave Ismaïla Sarr a sniff.
CM: Eberechi Eze—7.9: “There is something in your tummy,” Arteta said of the feeling a player has up against his former club. Eze certainly caused a few butterflies to flutter around the Emirates with his impressive strike.
CM: Martín Zubimendi—7.4: Unusually slack on the ball but forced plenty of turnovers from the Palace side of the ledger.
CM: Declan Rice—7.7: It was the England international who often dropped between Arsenal’s centre backs during the buildup, offering far less threat in open play compared to his, as ever, excellent set-piece delivery.
RW: Bukayo Saka—7.1: Up against a wingback system, the defensive work-rate of the wingers is imperative. Saka carried that role out superbly but wasn’t nearly so involved at the other end.
ST: Viktor Gyökeres—6.2: Chugged around the final third with a faint sense of hope rather than expectation.
LW: Leandro Trossard—7.1: Sharp on the ball, lurking in that pocket of uncertainty between Chris Richards and Daniel Muñoz.
Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK), Ben White, Christian Nørgaard, Ethan Nwaneri.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1)
Starting XI: Dean Henderson; Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Marc Guéhi; Daniel Muñoz, Adam Wharton, Daichi Kamada, Tyrick Mitchell; Ismaïla Sarr, Yeremy Pino; Jean-Philippe Mateta.
Subs used: Eddie Nketiah, Will Hughes, Borna Sosa, Jefferson Lerma, Christantus Uche.
Player of the Match: David Raya (Arsenal)
Arsenal 1–0 Crystal Palace—How It Unfolded at the Emirates
Same celebration. Same fixture. Same year. Same stadium.
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) October 26, 2025
New colours.
Eberechi Eze has his first Premier League goal for Arsenal, and it just had to come against Crystal Palace. pic.twitter.com/o5rIMWyUNj
Arsenal made a dozy start to proceedings in north London. Every other pass had a ragged edge to it, inadvertently starting a flurry of Palace attacks as the visitors proved to be wide awake. The Gunners didn’t have a single shot in anger inside the opening half-hour.
This remarkably parsimonious iteration of Arsenal relish any defensive work, and for the sixth half of Premier League football in succession, David Raya wasn’t forced into a single save.
Palace are no patsies at the back themselves. The tight stitching of Oliver Glasner’s 5-4-1 off the ball duly frustrated the hosts until they cracked the contest open thanks to that most familiar avenue—a set piece—and a face all too familiar for Palace.
Declan Rice’s lofted free kick in the 39th minute dropped 15 yards from goal. Eze was first to the loose ball, meeting it at hip-height on the volley with a deft flurry of neon feet, spanking in the first Premier League goal of his Arsenal tenure against his former club.
Gabriel, who was not expected to feature on Sunday, almost doubled Arsenal’s advantage five minutes after the interval, crashing a header from another free kick off the crossbar.
That chance, and the penalty box chaos which followed, set the tone for a dominant second-half spell from the Gunners. Freed by Eze’s opener, the fluency in Arsenal’s attacking game, which has proven to be so fickle, flowed back through the hosts.
Leandro Trossard went close while the lumbering figure of Viktor Gyökeres failed to build upon his midweek form.
Dean Henderson held firm between the posts for the Eagles, who sparked a somewhat nervy conclusion to proceedings while the score remained a slender 1–0. Arsenal’s backline blocked, buffeted and bellowed their way to a 10th clean sheet of the season.
Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace Half-Time Stats
Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace Full Time Stats
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Crystal Palace: Eze Caps Perfect Weekend of Results.
