Premier League
LONDON: Arsenal will start the international break eight points clear of the Premier League title fight after Bukayo Saka scored twice in a 4-1 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.
With closest rivals Manchester City linked up this week in the FA Cup, Arsenal made the most of it with Gabriel Martinelli opening the scoring and Granit Xhaka finding the net.
Jeffrey Schlupp scored Palace’s first goal in five league games to revive his team’s hopes of returning in the second half, but Arsenal never wanted to miss the opportunity to consolidate their lead as they dream of winning the title for the first time in 19 years.
Arsenal now have 69 points from 28 matches, while City, the defending champions, has 61 points, but has one game in hand.
Coach Mikel Arteta’s team was knocked out of the Europa League by penalty kicks against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, but seemed on the way to achieving its sixth consecutive win with reaching the break after advancing with two goals.
Martinelli scored first after Saka’s pass in the 28th minute, and Saka added the second goal with a ground kick after Ben White’s pass in the 43rd minute.
Xhaka made it 3-0 10 minutes after the break, but Schlupp pulled one back with just over an hour of play before Saka scored his 12th league goal of the season in the 74th minute.
Palace, who sacked coach Patrick Vieira last Friday, remain 12th but three points clear of the relegation zone.
