Arsenal went in front against Crystal Palace through Eberechi Eze with his reaction to scoring against his old club speaking volumes
Eberechi Eze showed his true colours during the celebrations of his first Arsenal goal in Premier League action up against former club Crystal Palace. The England international fired in a loose ball from a set-piece just before half-time to put the Gunners in front on Sunday afternoon.
Arsenal headed into the weekend top of the Premier League table with champions Liverpool failing to close the gap on Saturday evening when they were beaten by Brentford.
Arne Slot’s side looked to be back on track after four consecutive defeats upon battering Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League earlier this week, but losing at the Gtech Community Stadium showed problems are still present.
Following their fourth successive defeat, the Gunners needed to capitalise and after a nervy opening 35 minutes without any shots at goal, Eze did exactly that.
After Gabriel Magalhaes competed for a Declan Rice free-kick with Maxence Lacroix, Eze fired in a half-volley superbly under pressure from Adam Wharton
After scoring such a great goal, Eze opted to not overly celebrate having spent the last few years with the Eagles. He followed that up by looking to the sky after making a cross sign with his hands, which he usually does after finding the back of the net.
Given his links to their opponents, Arteta spoke about Eze in the lead up to the clash alongside discussing the importance of improving on their result from last season.
“It’s a big game for us because last season here we dropped some points and it’s the fourth game in a row that we’re going to play against opponents that we drop points and this season we’ve been able to beat them so it focuses on that,” he admitted at a press conference on Friday.
“We know that for Ebz it’s going to be a very special match with the history and what he did for Palace but the focus is on the team.”
“There is something in your tummy, obviously,” Arteta added on what it’s like to face old teammates. “There is history, there are a lot of emotions, there are very close relationships.
“In my opinion, once you step in there and you go with that mindset, you have even more will to win. Because, as well, you made that decision here to be successful and to achieve something else in your career. I’m sure Ebz are going to be ready for that.”
Scoring will have arrived as a big confidence boost for Eze having somewhat struggled to make an impact in the injury absence of Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal have been hit by multiple injury blows and worries over the last few weeks with the latest of those arriving against Palace when William Saliba was replaced by Cristhian Mosquera.
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