Arsenal player ratings vs Crystal Palace: Madueke sharp, Jesus clinical and Zubimendi struggles

Arsenal’s final Premier League game of the season finished 2-1 at Selhurst Park, and the ratings make the same point as the scoreline: the rotated side did enough, but a few individuals stood out far more than others. Noni Madueke was the sharpest attacker, Gabriel Jesus found the decisive moment, and Martín Zubimendi had a difficult afternoon in an unfamiliar right-back role.

Madueke and Jesus carried the attacking edge

Madueke was the best-rated Arsenal starter, landing a 7.7, and the numbers back up the eye test. He looked lively from the start, then scored Arsenal’s second goal three minutes into the second half after a Kai Havertz header from a corner. Matt Verri called him “really sharp” and noted that his cross for Jesus deserved to be an assist before he got his own goal.

Jesus finished with a 7.2 and his evening was mixed in the early stages. He missed three big chances, one of them hitting the post, but still delivered the opener in the 42nd minute with Gabriel Martinelli supplying the pass. That is a fair summary of the performance, wasteful in patches, useful when it mattered. He was not flawless, but he still gave Arsenal the goal that opened the game up.

Martinelli also came out at 7.2, and his influence was felt in the move for the first goal as well as the chance he created for Havertz after the break. His perfect pass in behind set up Jesus, then his electric run later forced another big opening. For a rotated side, those were the players who made the game look controlled rather than merely contained.

Why Zubimendi’s afternoon matters before Paris

The least convincing display came from Zubimendi, whose 6.6 reflected how uncomfortable the experiment looked. Mikel Arteta used him at right-back in a 4-2-3-1 shape, and the report from Matt Verri was blunt: loose on the ball, too rash in challenges, and then too passive when Yéremy Pino had time to cross for Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal.

That is the sharpest criticism in the ratings and it feels hard to push back on. Zubimendi was filling in rather than playing in his usual lane, but the job still looked awkward enough that the review leaves a clear message for Arteta.

There was also late drama at the other end. Mateta scored Palace’s consolation in the 89th minute, before Pino’s stoppage-time equaliser was ruled offside. Crystal Palace had already been beaten by then, and Arsenal had already clinched the title earlier in the week, so the evening was always going to be about rotation and individual sharpness rather than anything bigger. The heavily changed XI still won, but the ratings suggest Madueke and Jesus were the standouts, while Zubimendi’s right-back test was the one piece Arsenal will not want to repeat.