Arsenal celebrate Premier League in style with relaxed win at Crystal Palace

This was an occasion for Mikel Arteta to savour. With owner Stan Kroenke watching on from the stands on a rare visit to see his team in the flesh, Arsenal celebrated being crowned champions for the first time since 2004 by recording a comfortable victory over a Crystal Palace side who also have a European final on their minds. Max Dowman became the youngest player ever to start a Premier League game at the age of 16 years and 144 days and played his part, as goals from Gabriel Jesus – on what could be the Brazil striker’s last appearance – and Noni Madueke rounded off a memorable campaign for Arteta and his side.

But as they waited to be presented with the Premier League trophy at a sultry Selhurst Park after Oliver Glasner completed his own lap of honour following his last home match in charge of Palace, attention will switch very quickly to the daunting prospect of facing Paris Saint-Germain in next weekend’s Champions League showpiece. Palace - who scored a late consolation through Jean-Philippe Mateta and saw a late equaliser from Yéremy Pino ruled out for offside - will be concerned to see Adam Wharton limp off ahead of their meeting with Spanish side Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on Wednesday in the Conference League final in what should be an emotional farewell for Glasner. Palace revealed this week that it had identified more than 35,000 bots attempting to buy tickets in the home sections of the ground and asked fans to report any Arsenal supporters transgressing. Yet other than a handful who sneaked in wearing hi-vis jackets before being ejected by security, everything passed off peacefully in the end.

Gabriel Jesus has now won as many Premier Leagues as Wayne Rooney, but injuries have limited him to cameo contributions in this, his fifth title. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Had things turned out differently then this could have been an afternoon full of tension. But after Bournemouth did Mikel Arteta’s side a favour on Tuesday night against Manchester City, there was a carnival atmosphere as those visiting supporters lucky enough to get a ticket in the away end basked in glorious sunshine at kick-off. Arsenal’s players were given a guard of honour by Palace before making a point of performing their pre-match huddle in front of their fans. While there was no sign of Gunnersaurus or Pete the Eagle in either of the starting line-ups, both managers were unsurprisingly keen to rest players given what is to come next week.

Only four of Palace’s team here is expected to start against Rayo, with academy product Rio Cardines impressing on his first senior start and Premier League debut despite playing out of position at left wingback. As well as Dowman, Arteta finally opted to give Christian Nørgaard his first league start and sprang a surprise by deploying Martín Zubimendi at right back, perhaps with an eye on next weekend in Budapest. Jurriën Timber is fighting to prove his fitness in time, although showed that he could be an alternative if the Dutchman doesn’t make it and PSG have major doubts over the fitness of their own-right back, the influential Achraf Hakimi.

With European finals on the horizon for both Palace and Arsenal, this was one of Selhurst Park’s more relaxed afternoons. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Jesus - who, like Norgaard is tipped to leave in the summer - should have opened the scoring in the 11th minute after being set up by Madueke but could not find a way past Dean Henderson who had already denied Madueke in the opening five minutes. Dowman was booed by the Palace supporters for going down inside the area under pressure from Jefferson Lerma. But the teenager, who was unable to attend training on Friday as he completed the last of his GCSEs, played his part in the opening goal with a clever flick that allowed Gabriel Martinelli to play in his compatriot Jesus.

Both managers rang the changes at half-time and Kai Havertz - who will vie with Viktor Gyökeres to start against PSG - made an immediate impact by setting up Madueke with a cushioned header for Arsenal’s 19th Premier League goal from a corner. “Set-piece FC,” sang the Arsenal fans. There was a major concern for Palace when Wharton needed treatment 10 minutes after coming on and was unable to continue, heading straight down the tunnel to be replaced by Evan Guessand. Arsenal welcomed back Mikel Merino for the first time since January from a foot injury that left him needing a mobility scooter to get around for two months in another boost for next week. Eberechi Eze was given a hearty reception when he was brought on against his former club but was denied a goal in the last minute by another excellent Henderson save. The unfortunate Guessand could not get out of the way of Pino’s goalbound shot that would have earned Palace a point as the north Londoners’ party resumed south of the river.