Eberechi Eze opened his account in the Premier League for Arsenal with the only goal in a 1-0 win against his former side Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday
Eberechi Eze has sent a touching message to Crystal Palace supporters after they clapped him off despite him scoring the winning goal for Arsenal. Eze scored the only goal of the game as the Gunners triumphed 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The England international fired into the corner from Gabriel Magalhaes’ knock-down following a first-half free-kick. It was his first Premier League goal for Arsenal since joining the club from Palace in a £67.5million transfer this summer.
While he did celebrate, Eze chose to do so in an understated manner which was respectful of the club where he spent five years. He pointed to the sky to thank God and dropped to his knees.
When he was substituted in the 88th minute for Myles Lewis-Skelly, the match-winner was applauded by the home fans as well as the Palace supporters in the away end. It was a classy moment from the travelling fans and Eze was keen to praise them post-match.
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“They are a special group of fans and I am grateful for love and support they have showed me,” he told Sky Sports. “I’ll forever grateful to them.”
Eze left Palace on good terms after Arsenal stumped up the cash to ensure they got their man ahead of rivals Tottenham. The 27-year-old now has two goals and three assists in his 11 appearances for the Gunners and was delighted to get off the mark in the league, even if it was against Palace.
“It’s a good day, I’m happy to score and that’s how I want to help the team,” he said. “It’s a bit of a mixed day. 100 per cent per cent Crystal Palace are a difficult team to play against. You can see why teams struggle against them.
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“When it went in [the goal] I wanted to thank God and Jesus but I also wanted to be respectful [with the celebrations]. It was a weird finish. I’m learning a lot here about staying alive from set pieces.”
Mikel Arteta had a different take on Eze’s finish, which saw him adjust well to get his body over the ball and fire past Dean Henderson. “The technique is unbelievable,” he said. “We needed something [special] against a team so well organised.”
Speaking to Match of the Day, he added: “A massive win. We knew the difficulty of it. Big credit to Crystal Palace for the way they set up. They made it really difficult for us. We found a way to score against a team really well organised.
“We didn’t score a second goal and when you don’t do that you are in danger. They are a super difficult side. We have restricted them to very little.”
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