A brace from Bukayo Saka helped Arsenal punish Norwich City 5-0 in their Boxing Day meeting. Elsewhere, their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur beat Crystal Palace 3-0 to continue their resurgence under Antonio Conte.
Six minutes were all it took for Saka to give Arsenal the lead against Norwich City on Boxing Day. The England international received a pass on the right from Martin Odegaard before cutting inside on his left and cushioning the ball into the corner.
The Norwegian has become central to Arsenal’s creative efforts in recent weeks, and it was his threaded through ball which Kieran Tierney took in his stride and converted into a goal in the 44th minute to put the Gunners 2-0 up.
Gabriel Martinelli had a goal chalked off for offside after the interval. However, Arsenal had their third through Saka, who completed his brace with a powerful drive from outside the box, which skipped past Angus Gunn and nestled into the corner.
Things went from bad to worse for the Canaries in the 84th minute when Ozan Kabak gave away a penalty for a foul on Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman took the spot-kick himself and scored to make it 4-0 to the Gunners. Emile Smith-Rowe came off the bench to continue his fine scoring form and tapped in the fifth – and final goal – of the rout in the first minute of stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Tottenham continued their good form of late under Antonio Conte by brushing aside Crystal Palace 3-0. Lucas Moura starred for Spurs, first providing Harry Kane with a simple square pass in the 32nd minute for the opener from the center of the box, before scoring a header himself two minutes later.
To make matters worse, Wilfried Zaha picked up his second booking in the 37th minute, meaning that the Eagles had to play almost an hour with a man fewer. Son Heung-min capitalized on the deficit to score his side’s third in the 74th minute, poking in a Moura cross from close range. With the win, Spurs are now up to fifth in the table, six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, but with three games in hand.
