Mikel Arteta provides injury updates on two key Arsenal stars
Posted by  badge Boss on Jan 21
Arsenal coasted to a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)

is hopeful that the injuries sustained by Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes against Crystal Palace are not serious.

The Gunners returned to winning ways following three consecutive defeats with a convincing 5-0 win over struggling at the Emirates Stadium.

and the Brazil international centre-half contributed to his side’s second goal of the game when he nodded the ball into the net via the head of Eagle’s goalkeeper .

An eagerly anticipated goal from open play arrived just before the hour mark when Leandro Trossard provided a fitting finish to a stunning breakaway and Gabriel Martinelli put the icing on the cake with two identical finishes in injury-time.

Given they were knocked out of the FA Cup a fortnight ago by Liverpool, Arsenal do not play again for another 10 days when they face a testing trip to Nottingham Forest.

Both Rice and Gabriel failed to last the 90 minutes against Palace, prior to coming off the pitch.

Gabriel, meanwhile, seemed to be complaining of a calf niggle as he made his wayto the substitutes’ bench with 15 minutes remaining.

Declan Rice appeared to sustain a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)
Gabriel Magalhaes failed to last 90 minutes against Crystal Palace (Picture: Getty)

Asked for an update on two of his most consistent performers this term, Arteta said:’Declan was feeling something, a sensation in the hamstring at 3-0.

‘Gabriel he had a tackle I think in the first half on his knee and I think he was a little bit struggling.

Asked if the problems were potentially serious, he added: ‘I hope not but let’s see.’

On the significant of a much-needed win, the Arsenal manager said: ‘Very pleased, clean sheet and five goals, win the game and performance. I had a really good feeling after we left the stadium after Liverpool, the performance was there but the results were not.

‘Today we were much more efficient in the opponents’ box particularly than the last few games. Last few games we had moments playing better than today but this is about scoring goals.

‘Set pieces are a big part of us, especially against teams that want to defend deeply. It is a good way to win games. The success of last season was the amount of players who scored more than 10 goals and we are going to have to do that again.’

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