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Mikel Arteta has given an update on William Saliba and Declan Rice after the pair suffered injuries against Crystal Palace . Arsenal opened up a four-point gap at the top of the Premier League as Eberechi Eze returned to haunt his former club, scoring the only goal of the game in the 39th minute. The Gunners were far from their best in the hard-fought victory, with a moment of brilliance from the £67.5million summer signing proving to be the difference between the two sides . Palace launched late attacks in the game in a bid to rescue a point, which Arsenal had to thwart without Saliba and Rice, who were both substituted. Saliba was replaced by Cristian Mosquera at half-time, with the injury he suffered unclear at the time. While the England midfielder appeared to pick up a muscular problem in the 82nd minute. Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta gave an update on both players’ condition. “We had to get [Saliba] out,” Arteta said. “He was in some pain. We have to review it, but he wasn’t good enough to continue. "With Declan it was the same. We had to make a couple changes due to discomforts. Any time someone cannot continue it’s not good so we shall see” Arteta added that Riccardo Calafiori was also replaced due to an injury concern. And Gabriel Martinelli was also a concern before kick-off. Despite the injury concerns and Arsenal being far from their best, Arteta lauded his players' performance in a perfect weekend for the Gunners in the title race. "I'm really happy because we knew the difficulty of the match," he told Sky Sports. "It was a crucial win against a good side. Today we were clinical and defensively excellent. No one really generates big chances against them with the way they set up. "They (players) earned it. The way they compete and play, the way they want to win, it's amazing. The five [substitutes] that came on today made a big difference again. You see the other results in the Premier League...you have to be so good to win."
