Three Things We Learned after Arsenal beat Palace as Brighton loom at the Emirates 

Arsenal marked Ian Mills one year anniversary penning his Three Things We Learned series with another win as Mikel Arteta's solid side continue their excellent run of form - read on for Ian's popular take 

Eberechie Eze struck to sink his former employers to send us four points clear at the top of the table.

Here are three things that stood out for me, writes Ian Mills 

 1 - Eze like a Sunday afternoon:

– It was somewhat inevitable that the first time Eberechi Eze faced his former club he would be the matchwinner.

In the same fixture last season, he scored a well taken goal for Palace to level the scores at 1-1, during the 2-2 draw. 

This time, after Declan Rice’s free kick was cleared, he found the net with a sumptuous half volley in front of his former adoring masses at the Clock End. 

I got the chance to see the quality of the strike being in the Upper Tier of the West Stand.  

He did not celebrate his goal despite no doubt buzzing with excitement about scoring his first League goal for his boyhood club.

To be fair to the Palace supporters, they gave him a great ovation when he was substituted. Fans of a London rival applauding their former player after playing against them following a big money move to Arsenal – West Ham fans please take note.

2 - Back four brilliance:

– This game completed the four match sequence where we faced opposition that we have dropped points to in recent seasons, and having beaten Newcastle away, West Ham home and Fulham away, on Sunday we turned last season’s 2-2 draw against the Eagles into a win this time around.

That’s 12 points gained versus just two from the same fixtures last season. We also registered a sixth Premier clean sheet (and tenth in all competitions).

Gabriel played through the pain barrier and was again superb throughout. Jurrien Timber just gets better and better with every passing week.

When Saliba went off at half time, Cristhian Mosquera seamlessly took his place. Riccardo Calafiori once more floated in his almost ‘free’ role.

There was even time for a late Premier League debut for Piero Hincapie.

David Raya was largely untroubled yet every time he was called into action, he was thoroughly decisive.

This back four and the others waiting patiently on the bench are the envy of world football right now and rightly so.

3 - Anniversary hopes:

– I started writing this column a year ago and my first game was our 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool.

It was a controversial match as we were denied a late winner by a poor VAR decision.

That result left us seven points behind the Merseysiders.

This win leaves us seven points ahead of the Champions despite losing to them at Anfield and six ahead of Manchester City having all played nine games. We lead the table by four points.

The title can never be won in October however it can certainly be lost by then. We have scored one less goal than the current top league scorers and have the best goal difference.

All this has been achieved despite a very testing opening set of fixtures and enduring a raft on injuries.

There is a long way to go, and this squad will take things one game at a time - yet it is understandable to be somewhat excited about what we could achieve come May.