Arsenal celebrate Premier League in style with relaxed win at Crystal Palace
This was an occasion for Mikel Arteta to savour. With owner Stan Kroenke watching on from the stands on a rare visit to see his team in the flesh, Arsenal celebrated being crowned champions for the first time since 2004 by recording a comfortable victory over a Crystal Palace side who also have a European final on their minds. Max Dowman became the youngest player ever to start a Premier League game at the age of 16 years and 144 days and played his part, as goals from Gabriel Jesus – on what could be the Brazil striker’s last appearance – and Noni Madueke rounded off a memorable campaign for Arteta and his side.
But as they waited to be presented with the Premier League trophy at a sultry Selhurst Park after Oliver Glasner completed his own lap of honour following his last home match in charge of Palace, attention will switch very quickly to the daunting prospect of facing Paris Saint-Germain in next weekend’s Champions League showpiece. Palace – who scored a late consolation through Jean-Philippe Mateta and saw a late equaliser from Yéremy Pino ruled out for offside – will be concerned to see Adam Wharton limp off ahead of their meeting with Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on Wednesday in the Conference League final in what should be an emotional farewell for Glasner. Palace revealed this week that it had identified more than 35,000 bots attempting to buy tickets in the home sections of the ground and asked fans to report any Arsenal supporters transgressing. Yet other than a handful who sneaked in wearing hi-vis jackets before being ejected by security, everything passed off peacefully in the end.