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London. — Arsenal surged eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as Bukayo Saka’s brace inspired a 4-1 rout of Crystal Palace yesterday.
Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring in the first half at the Emirates Stadium to put the leaders on course for a sixth successive league victory.
It was redemption for Martinelli, whose missed penalty condemned Arsenal to Europa League last 16 defeat in their shoot-out against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday.
Mikel Arteta’s side needed just 45 minutes against struggling Palace to erase the bitter taste of that loss.
Saka followed Martinelli’s goal by doubling Arsenal’s lead before halftime.
Granit Xhaka netted the third after the interval and Jeff Schlupp’s reply was no consolation as the influential Saka’s second capped Arsenal’s stylish display.
Arsenal now have a substantial eight-point lead over second placed Manchester City, who took the weekend off from Premier League duty to thrash Burnley in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
With a game in hand on Arsenal and a crucial clash with the Gunners looming on 26 April, Pep Guardiola’s champions will still believe they can win a fifth title in six seasons.
But heading into the international break, Arsenal have ensured the fate of the title race will be in their hands in the final 10 games.
After surrendering top spot with a defeat against City in February, Arsenal have responded impressively, showing a maturity and composure far beyond the Gunners’ teams that routinely underachieved in recent years.
Arteta deserves immense credit for transforming a side that blew their top four place last season.
Less than a year later, Arsenal, the first English side ever to win nine London derbies in a single season, have the look of champions elect.
FA Cup Matches
Meanwhile in FA Cup match, Man Utd capitalise on Fulham red mist; Brighton, Sheffield win Manchester United set up a FA Cup semifinal against Brighton in remarkable fashion as Fulham captain Aleksandar Mitrovic was sent off for pushing the referee in a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford yesterday.
Mitrovic was shown one of three Fulham red cards in a matter of seconds as he barged into Chris Kavanagh for awarding United a penalty after a VAR review for Willian’s handball on the line.
The Brazilian was also dismissed, along with Fulham manager Marco Silva on the touchline.
United took advantage as two goals from Bruno Fernandes and Marcel Sabitzer’s first for the club kept Erik ten Hag’s men on course for a treble of cup competitions.
The Cottagers had been on course to reach the last four for the first time in 21 years when Mitrovic fired them ahead early in the second half.
United needed goalkeeper David de Gea to make a remarkable save to deny the Serbian a second before the tie completely turned on one incident 18 minutes from time. Willian used his hand to deflect Jadon Sancho’s shot behind, preventing a certain goal. Kavanagh initially only gave a corner, but reversed his decision on seeing the replay to spark chaotic scenes.
Brighton too good for Grimsby
Earlier, Brighton dashed League Two Grimsby’s dreams of a trip to Wembley with a 5-0 thrashing.
Fourth-tier Grimsby had made history on their way to the quarterfinals by beating five sides from higher divisions.
But Paul Hirst’s men were caught out by the class of in-form Brighton, who are eyeing the club’s first ever major trophy.
The floodgates threatened to open when Deniz Undav scored for the Seagulls after just six minutes.
Grimsby held out to limit the damage before halftime, but ran out of steam in the second half.
Evan Ferguson scored twice and had another strike ruled out by VAR check for offside.
Brighton’s free-scoring wingers Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma then rubbed salt into Grimsby wounds by scoring in the final 10 minutes. — supersport.
Online Reporter