Arsenal thrash Palace to open 8-point Prem lead

Key Facts

Palace sacked manager Patrick Vieira on Thursday after a 12-match winless run, and interim boss Paddy McCarthy could not end their poor form as Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka scored in the first half before Granit Xhaka furthered Mikel Arteta's side's lead early in the second.
Leandro Trossard, who provided a hat trick of assists in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Fulham last week, was provider again as he slipped through Xhaka to bundle in at the near post.
Schlupp threw Palace a lifeline on 63 minutes as he forced the ball home after Arsenal failed to deal with a corner, but the away side failed to mount a comeback as they slumped to their fourth straight defeat.
Arteta's side made sure there was no way back for Palace as Saka fired home first-time from Kieran Tierney's cross to score his 12th league goal of the season in the 74th minute.