Nacho Monreal put in a stunning performance with the Spaniard was involved in three quickfire goals, scoring one and providing two assists, to put the home side 3-0 up after just 13 minutes.
The 31-year-old opened the scoring with a header from the far post, only his sixth goal in 187 appearances for the London club.
Two minutes later, Alex Iwobi made it 2-0 with an easy enough finish after Monreal cut the ball back from the left-hand side.
To compound Palace’s misery, Laurent Koscielny made it 3-0 in the 13th minute with an easy tap-in after the Spanish left-back connected with a cross at the back post to tee it up perfectly for his Arsenal team-mate.
Arsene Wenger’s team then finished the game off in the 21st minute. After some great link-up play between Iwobi and Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil back-heeled the ball to Alexandre Lacazette who sweeped the ball past Wayne Hennessey to make it 4-0.
Man of the match Monreal was then substituted in the 33rd minute for a suspected hamstring injury and was replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The visitor’s did regain some footing in the first-half with their best chance coming in the 43rd minute. Substitute Maitland-Niles gave possession away cheaply as his pass fell to Wilfred Zaha in a dangerous area. Zaha’s shot forced a good save from Petr Cech, who wasn’t really tested on the day.
- Palace tried to fight back -
Although the game was effectively over at half-time with Roy Hodgson failing to invoke a miracle in the second-half, Palace did continue to try and create chances to force their way back into the match.
They created a good chance in the 60th minute when Bakary Sako played a beautiful cross to Christian Benteke from the left-hand side, leaving the former Liverpool striker one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was blocked well by Cech’s body.
However, the visitors did end Arsenal’s perfect day through a goal in the 77th minute. From a corner, Benteke chested the ball to his team-mate Luka Milivojevic who fired it in the back of the net to make it 4-1.
Despite the goal, Arsenal continued to control the game, dominating possession, and could afford to sit back and absorb the pressure from Palace who had their hard work cut out for them after the third goal in the 13th minute.
- Injury blow -
Hodgson will also be hoping that the injury to Yohan Cabaye isn’t too serious, despite the Frenchman being stretchered off in the 87th minute, in another possible injury blow to the squad who are already missing Ruben-Loftus Cheek (ankle), Andros Townsend (also ankle), Mamadou Sakho (calf), Jordon Mutch, Jeffrey Schlupp, Jason Puncheon, Connor Wickham and Scott Dann (all knee).
The victory means that Arsenal move within two points of their North London rivals Tottenham, who are in fifth, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side set to face Southampton on Sunday.
For Crystal Palace, the defeat ends their five-game unbeaten streak away from home with the ‘Eagles’ only five points ahead of the drop-zone in a tight bottom half of the table.