Riccardo Calafiori has sent a clear message to Gabriel Jesus after his hat-trick against Crystal Palace in their 3-2 Carabao Cup quarter-final victory. The Brazil international was among those brought into the starting XI by Mikel Arteta and he certainly made the most of his opportunity.
Jean-Philippe Mateta opened the scoring for Palace after just a few minutes, but Arsenal then fought back with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard – brought on by Arteta for the second half – both assisting Jesus to turn the tie on its head.
The 27-year-old then emphatically fired in his third and though ex-forward Eddie Nketiah pulled one back, Arsenal held on to book their spot in the semi-finals. Kieran Tierney and Raheem Sterling also did their chances of featuring again no harm with both players putting in solid shifts, though the latter will be disappointed he did not score.
Tierney was making his first start for Arsenal in over 18 months and though it looked to end via an injury, Arteta confirmed he went down and was subsequently subbed off due to cramp. England star Declan Rice, meanwhile, was not included in the matchday squad after suffering an issue last weekend against Everton.
Ahead of the cup tie, Arteta offered a positive update, though, with his absence likely so he can feature from the start in Premier League action against Palace this weekend. “He’s [Rice] fine,” the Arsenal boss revealed on Tuesday.
“We will make the decision on whether he’s available or not. Alex [Zinchenko] and Riccy [Riccardo Calafiori] will still be out of the squad for tomorrow.” Zinchenko and Calafiori again missing out came as a blow especially with two other defenders, in Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White, as long-term absentees.
