Mikel Arteta sends strong message to Arsenal players after emphatic Crystal Palace win

But Arsenal ran riot on a comfortable afternoon at the office to boost their hopes of title glory.

Gabriel opened the scoring in the 11th minute, with a Dean Henderson own goal doubling the Gunners' advantage.

Leandro Trossard scored Arsenal's third, while a late brace from Gabriel Martinelli added gloss to their win.

Speaking after the game, Arteta said he was 'very pleased' with the way his side performed.

But the Spaniard also made it clear he wants his side to be more aggressive and clinical as they look to end their wait for a first league title since 2004.

"Very pleased, clean sheet and five goals, win the game and performance," he told the BBC.

"I had a really good feeling after we left the stadium after Liverpool, the performance was there but the results were not.

"Today we were much more efficient in the opponents' box particularly than the last few games.

"Last few games we had moments playing better than today but this is about scoring goals.

"Set pieces are a big part of us, especially against teams that want to defend deeply. It is a good way to win games.

"The success of last season was the amount of players who scored more than 10 goals and we are going to have to do that again.

"We used moments of the game we knew could exploit really, really well. The subs did really well and had a big impact. Everyone was really focused.

"This is the second part of the season we want to tackle it with a lot of aggression and motivation.

"I would like to play three days after but it is what it is!

"We will keep preparing and we must continue to do better and improve as a team."

Gabriel also discussed the result.

And the Brazilian didn't seem too bothered after being told that his second goal would actually be given to Henderson as an own goal instead.

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"Ah, yeah, but I'm so happy to score goals for the team," said the Samba star.

"I think one more minute and Gabriel Martinelli will score three goals."

Martinelli added: "I'm so pleased for the team.

"I think we needed a performance like that. I'm here to help the team even if I only play one, two or three minutes.

"Today, I had the opportunity to score two and I'm so happy with the team and the performance.

"It was so important. We know our qualities.

"It doesn't matter what people say on the outside, we believe in ourselves. We showed that today and what we can do.

"We knew we needed a game like that where we had a clean sheet and scored five games.

"We will try our best and keep going like that because we know our expectation."