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| Gabriel Jesus celebrates after scoring | Photo: Reuters |
Gabriel Jesus has not been having a good time at all. He has only scored one goal in his first 20 matches this season, and none in his last 8 matches.
Jesus scored his first hat-trick for Arsenal as Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 3-2 last night to reach the semi-finals of the English League Cup.
The last four have been made up of reigning champions Liverpool and Newcastle United, who have never been champions. Liverpool won 2-1 at Southampton, while Newcastle beat Brentford 3-1. Tottenham and Manchester United will face each other in the fourth quarter-final tonight. The winner of this match will be the last team to make it to the semi-finals.
Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by Premier League strugglers Everton in their previous match at the Emirates Stadium, leaving fans feeling a little disappointed with the London team.
City rivals Crystal Palace increased the Gunners' danger at the start of the match tomorrow. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored in the 4th minute to give Palace the lead. Then, one after another, the gallery started to hear two voices, which continued until the break. Because Arsenal had to go into the break from a 1-0 goal deficit.
However, Jesus single-handedly turned the game around in the second half. The Brazilian forward put Arsenal ahead with goals in the 54th, 73rd and 81st minutes. He last scored a hat-trick in English football in the Premier League in 2022. But that was for Manchester City. He scored four times in the match against Watford.
Palace made it 3-2 in the 85th minute after Jesus' hat-trick. Eddie Nketiah, who joined Palace from Arsenal this season, scored the goal. Arsenal did not allow the south London club to return to the match after that.
After the match, Jesus said, "Sometimes I have problems with the goal drought. I've been working on finishing in training to put myself in a good position. I think this (last night's hat-trick) is a reflection of the hard work."
Meanwhile, at Southampton, Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott gave Liverpool a two-goal lead in the first half. Southampton reduced the deficit with a goal from Cameron Archer in the 59th minute, but could not come back into the match. This was Liverpool's 20th victory in 24 matches under Arne Slott.
In the other match, Newcastle's Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali scored a brace in the first half at home to St James' Park. Fabian Schar made it 3-0 after the break. Brantford scored a consolation goal in added time.