Eze haunts former club as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace

Eberechi Eze came back to hurt his former club, scoring the only goal as Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 at the Emirates to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Eze, who joined the Gunners from Palace in a £67 million deal last summer, struck in trademark fashion,  finishing off a well-worked set-piece in the first half.

Declan Rice floated in a free-kick that was headed down by Gabriel, and Eze reacted sharply, firing an acrobatic effort into the bottom corner.

Palace tried to respond, with Jean-Philippe Mateta putting up a fight against Arsenal’s solid defence, but they rarely troubled goalkeeper David Raya.

Arsenal came close to adding a second after the break, with Gabriel’s header rattling the crossbar and Bukayo Saka curling a shot just wide from the edge of the box.

The result keeps Mikel Arteta’s men unbeaten in ten games across all competitions and strengthens their position in the title race.