Gabriel Martinelli secured a late brace for Arsenal in their 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace this afternoon.

Despite being one of the club’s top scorers last season, the Brazilian has struggled to make an impact in the current campaign, resulting in him losing his starting spot. In the match against the Eagles, Leandro Trossard got the nod ahead of him.

However, Martinelli seized the opportunity when he came on as a substitute, scoring two identical yet clinical strikes. This impressive performance is likely to send a message to his manager, and he will be hopeful that it earns him a starting spot in the next game. Sky Sports’ James Green suggests that this could be a positive turning point in Martinelli’s season.

He said on Sky Sports:

“That late double will give Martinelli a huge amount of confidence. He’s struggled a lot this season to hit the heights we saw last year, but he took those two really well. 

Arsenal’s interest in Xavi Simons may have RB Leipzig concerned. PSG’s Xavi Simons, who is on loan to RB Leipzig, is progressively establishing himself as one of the best playmakers around.

The 20-year-old Dutch international has been in terrific form this season, contributing 15 goals in 26 outings (across all competitions). That’s six goals and nine assists.

The Bundesliga side may begin to believe they must persuade PSG to sell him to them on a permanent basis.

However, the Germans will have to beat a number of teams to win the Dutch international’s signature. Barcelona and Bayern Munich are reportedly in the running, although neither is likely to offer a threat in that transfer. Arsenal, on the other hand, might pose a significant threat, considering the belief Premier League clubs have a willingness to spend money to sign players they want.

“Bayern have him on the list, but I think for this summer, they have many players on the list for this position, and Simons will be particularly expensive if PSG would be prepared to sell him,” the head of football at the BILD Group informed CaughtOffside in an exclusive update on Simon’s transfer race.

On Friday, Utah’s state House of Representatives distinguished itself by becoming the country’s first legislative body to pass an anti-trans bill in 2024.

It also happens to be dangerously extreme, by seeking to make it a criminal offense for people to use a bathroom in a public building that doesn’t correspond with the gender on their birth certificate. According to Erin Reed, who tracks anti-trans legislation nationwide, the law raises the prospect of people forced to “potentially undergo a genital examination if under criminal investigation for being in the bathroom.” People determined under the law to have used the wrong bathroom inside public spaces, from colleges to Salt Lake City’s airport, could be sent to jail for up to 6 months. 

The bill, which would need to pass the state’s Senate and be approved by the governor to become law, is so extreme that Reed and others have said it could even ensnare cisgender people and subject them to prosecution if someone thinks they’re peeing in the wrong place.

As Chris Geidner writes at Law Dork, “It is extreme legislation that explicitly retrofits the crimes of voyeurism and criminal trespass in the state to allow for the prosecution of many transgender people for using the right bathroom.”

When pressed on the House floor, the bill’s sponsor could not point to a single example of inappropriate behavior by a trans person in an Utah bathroom. But members of the Utah House—which meets for only 45 days a year and just started its 2024 session on Tuesday—nonetheless voted 57 to 17 to police bathrooms.

GOP presidential contender Nikki Haley responded to former President Donald Trump’s gaffe from Friday night, in which he confused her with Nancy Pelosi and suggested that she had something to do with the security failures at the US Capitol on January 6. 

“Last night, Trump is at a rally and he’s going on and on mentioning me several times as to why I didn’t take security during the Capitol riots,” she told an audience in Keene, New Hampshire. “I wasn’t even in DC on January 6.”

Despite Arsenal’s 5-0 win against Crystal Palace this afternoon, Piers Morgan is convinced that the Gunners need a new striker.

Arsenal returned from their winter break in superb fashion, as they stunned struggling Palace with a performance that could see them sack their manager.

The Eagles have been one of the toughest teams for Arsenal to face, but the Gunners did not find any difficulty in that game.

It was one of the easiest victories they will achieve in a long time, and their players will be happy with the result.

However, Morgan is not convinced about their attacking display and insists the team still needs a striker like Ivan Toney.

Mikel Arteta anticipates a more aggressive approach from his team in the second half of the season following their 5-0 victory against Crystal Palace this afternoon.

Arsenal was part of the title race for much of the first half of the season, but a couple of crucial losses towards the end of 2023 saw them drop valuable points against West Ham and Fulham.

With the team experiencing poor form recently, the win against Palace was crucial to reassure fans that they can finish the season strongly. The convincing 5-0 victory is expected to boost the team’s confidence, and Arteta is looking forward to seeing a more aggressive and assertive Arsenal in the upcoming matches.

He tells the BBC:

“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.

Gabriel Magalhaes revealed that Arsenal has been working on setpieces, and it paid off as at least two setpieces caused problems for Crystal Palace in their 5-0 victory this afternoon.

The Gunners showcased their quality throughout the game, with the first two goals stemming from setpieces. Despite Palace struggling to make an impact, Arsenal demonstrated a well-rounded performance.

Having secured a 5-0 win, Arsenal has bounced back from three consecutive losses, and a potential long winning run could reignite their title challenge. Gabriel, who scored the first goal and played a role in the second (which was given as an own goal), highlighted the team’s focus on causing problems with setpieces, a strategy that proved effective in the match.

The Brazilian said to Premier League Productions:

“I’m so happy to score goals for the team. I think one more minute and Gabriel Martinelli will score three goals.

Ian Wright expressed his satisfaction with Arsenal’s performance in their 5-0 victory against Crystal Palace this afternoon.

The Gunners entered the match on the back of three consecutive losses and were in dire need of a win. Taking advantage of a much-needed break, they spent some days in Dubai before the fixture, aiming to settle nerves and refresh the players for the challenging second half of the season.

Facing a struggling Crystal Palace side, Arsenal dismantled their opponents effortlessly. Despite Palace having a poor game, Arsenal capitalised on their chances, and Wright is pleased with the team’s overall performance.

He said on Premier League productions:

“I thought Arsenal played very well. They had lost three games on the spin and had to come with real determination and spirit to show they can get back right on track.”

Nikki Haley, like most candidates who have sought to deny Donald Trump the 2024 GOP nomination, has had to carefully calibrate her criticism of the former president, who remains overwhelming popular inside the party. One attack she’s been willing to deploy is to gently suggest that, at 77, he’s too old to be president again.

Trump helped make her case last night in the form of what seemed to be a senior moment, where he repeatedly confused Republican Nikki Haley, who spent years as his UN ambassador, with former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi. In a rambling digression during a rally in New Hampshire, the former president blamed Haley for security lapses at the Capitol on January 6, even though Haley had left the federal government more than two years before the riot.

The moment came after Trump complained that the media never report on the size of his rally crowds, as compared with Haley’s smaller ones. But then he made his bizarre segue, as he seemed to blame his primary opponent for what happened at the Capitol. “By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they—do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it, because of lots of things,” Trump said. “Like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.”

A deeply confused Trump confuses Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley multiple times: Nikki Haley was in charge on January 6. They don’t want to talk about that pic.twitter.com/f3lhWgAzUw

— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) January 20, 2024

Gabriel Martinelli expressed delight following Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace, where his brace played a role in the win.

Arsenal, having lost three consecutive games leading up to this match, was expecting another challenging encounter. However, Crystal Palace performed surprisingly poorly, allowing the Gunners to secure a comfortable victory without being at their best.

While the result may seem flattering, it was a much-needed win for Arsenal as they were desperate to return to form. Martinelli, initially starting the game on the bench, made a significant impact when he came on in the final minutes, contributing two late goals to seal the impressive victory.

After the match, the Brazilian said to the BBC:

“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.