Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal can 'rely' on Gabriel Jesus amid attacking struggles as Brazilian emphatically ends goal drought with cup hat-trick to down Crystal Palace

Jesus' goals turned the game around after Jean-Phillipe Mateta gave the away side an early lead, ultimately sending the Gunners into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 victory. The hat-trick hero has come under plenty of criticism lately (and understandably so) but Arteta is confident he can kick on from this performance and play an integral role for the rest of the season.

Jesus endured a painful nine-month goal drought before bagging against Preston in the same cup competition in November, but he's failed to use that as a springboard and still has no Premier League goals to this name this season. Gunners fans will be praying that this explosive Carabao Cup hat-trick — which earned him a 10/10 match rating — is a sign of better things to come. Arsenal's manager certainly seems confident he can continue delivering.

"I'm so pleased for him," Arteta said in the post-match press conference. "Obviously it's been a long period for him without goals, and today to score three goals, the three types of goals he scored as well and the many actions he was involved in — he looked really sharp. I think it's a great thing for him, it's a great thing for the team as well that we can rely on a player with such quality. Gabby at that level is a big asset for us."

The fact that 11 of Jesus' 13 league appearances this season have come off the bench shows how difficult he's found it to hold down a key role and put together a decent run of form. But Arsenal's favourable-looking Christmas fixture list — with their next three opponents being Palace again, Ipswich Town and Brentford — might offer him the perfect opportunity to build on this midweek success and start putting in the Premier League performances we know he's capable of.