After Arsenal narrowly beat Palace 3-2 in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, they decided to up the ante on Saturday with a devastating display.

A brace from Gabriel Jesus, followed by goals from Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice meant Ismaila Sarr’s well-taken equaliser was deemed a mere consolation strike.

After drawing back to back Premier League games against Everton and Fulham, Mikel Arteta’s side seemed like they were on a mission to return to winning ways against Crystal Palace.

However, in the second half, Oliver Glasner’s side looked determined to stage a comeback as they were keeping the ball well and hitting the Gunners on the break.

But according to Mikel Arteta, Rice’s introduction to proceedings singlehandedly turned the game on its head in Arsenal’s favour against Crystal Palace.

The former West Ham United midfielder replaced Havertz in the 58th minute, with the German international starting in the middle of the park.

Mikel Arteta explained how Rice added a sense of stability to his Arsenal side in their eventual mauling of Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Arteta said via Arsenal’s official website: “Yeah, because they were more aggressive than in the first game which we expected, but we didn’t understand whether or not which sequences we had to put and the spaces that we needed to create. So, we ended up playing too much with David [Raya] very close his own goal and against them it’s a really bad game to play, and we adjusted a few things. When Rice came on, he changed the game, he gave us more dominance, still the same threat but we were much better.”

The Englishman slotted into midfield and his presence steadied the ship for Arsenal, who took far more control of proceedings upon his introduction.