Jesus saves to put Arsenal into the semi-finals
Gabriel Jesus' second-half hat-trick put Arsenal into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup as it came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 3-2 in their last-eight clash.
Making just his eighth start in all competitions this season, Jesus staked a claim to make his way back into the Gunners' line-up to face the Eagles in the Premier League at the weekend.
Palace was ahead in the fourth minute when Dean Henderson's long punt forward was picked up by Jean-Philippe Mateta, who outmuscled Jakub Kiwior before finishing low into the far-left corner.
Henderson was then called upon after a sustained spell of Arsenal pressure, brilliantly tipping over Raheem Sterling's free-kick before Arsenal got its goal after the break.
Jesus gathered substitute Martin Odegaard's incisive pass before riding the challenge of Trevoh Chalobah to delicately lift the ball over Henderson.
The Brazilian combined with another one of Mikel Arteta's changes soon after, rifling the ball into the bottom-right corner after being played in behind by Bukayo Saka.
Jesus then completed his first Arsenal treble eight minutes later, racing through on goal after another pick-out by Odegaard to finish fiercely beyond the goalkeeper.
Hopes of a Palace comeback were ignited late on when the Eddie Nketiah planted Nathaniel Clyne's cross home to score against his old club, but the Eagles were unable to force an equaliser and take it to penalties, losing for the first time in 10 matches across all competitions.
Arteta would have been hoping to give some of his first-team starters a rest ahead of facing Palace on Sunday (AEDT), but the Gunners' quality in reserve proved decisive.
Odegaard in particular was the most effective of those changes, creating more chances – three – than anyone else on the pitch, despite only coming on at half-time.
Saka also played his part with an assist, but the real hero at Emirates Stadium was Jesus, who contributed a team-high expected goals (xG) tally of 1.31 to Arsenal's 2.09 total.
