Crystal Palace vs Arsenal

1-1

This London Derby was rather frustrating from an Arsenal point of view and was a swift reminder that Arteta needs to be given time along with funds in the transfer window in order to get us back to where we belong.

The game started extremely well for the Gunners and in the opening 20 minutes, they were playing scintillating football, one or two touch combinations all over the park keeping Palace pinned back into their own half with no way out. In my opinion Arsenal’s best 20 minutes of the season as we dominated possession and looked like scoring with every attack, then in the 12th minute a beautiful 18 pass move ended with Lacazette threading a through ball straight down the middle of Palace’s defence, with Aubameyang taking the ball in his stride to slot home the opener. A weakened Palace side had no answer to the relentless attacks Arsenal were having, with all of the front three looking like they wanted to get on the scoresheet, more notable Nicolas Pepe looked as if he was going to have his say on a very dominate first half. However, the half ended 0-1 to the Arsenal.

After the break, both teams started very slowly and the intensity of the first half was looking like a distance memory for the first 10 minutes. I believe the turning point in this game was the fact that Torreira had to go off with a slight muscle injury as it affected Arsenal’s rhythm and it meant they had no one to break up the play. Then in the 54th minute Palace were level, courtesy of a very fortunate goal from Jordan Ayew which was heavily deflected off David Luiz and over the head of the stranded Bernd Leno. Things then went from bad to worse for Arsenal as star man and captain Aubameyang was sent off for a tackle on Max Meyer, which was upgraded from a yellow to a red after a ridiculous two minute VAR review. He was given his marching orders in the 67th minute and the Gunners then had it all to do if they were to take the three points. From this point on, Arsenal had to sit deeper and try to break on Palace and were lucky not to go behind after Sokratis cleared Tomkins header off the line. It wasn’t all Palace from this stage on though as Arsenal arguable had the best chance of the second half with a swift break leading to an agonisingly close effort from record signing Nicholas Pepe, which fired back off the post, to the feet of Lacazette who couldn’t lift the ball over Guaita. In the end, the points were shared and it finished Crystal Palace 1-1 Arsenal.

Player Ratings

Bernd Leno

Was mostly a spectator in the first half and didn’t have much else to do in the game. Couldn’t have done anything to prevent the Palace equaliser. 6/10

Maitland-Niles

Marked Zaha out of the game in the first half which is no easy feat. Looked assured at the back and made a few nice tackles, however gave away a few needless free kicks. 6.5/10

Sokratis

Had a solid game and was very comfortable in the first half. Allowed Ayew too much space in the second half which caused us problems. 6/10

David Luiz

Was the real leader at the heart of Arsenal’s defence and had more touches of the ball then anyone else throughout the game. He started attacks well from deep positions with one leading to our goal. Good display, my MOTM. 8/10

Sead Kolasinac

Didn’t have a lot of defending to do, especially in the first half. Got forward really well and provided a good outlet for Luiz’s long ball, battled as hard as ever. Decent display. 6.5/10

Lucas Torreira

Was immense in the 45 minutes he played, covering lots of ground breaking up Palace counter attacks then recycling the ball efficiently to our playmakers. Probably would have gone on to get my MOTM if he didn’t go off injured. 7.5/10

Granit Xhaka

Kept the midfield ticking with some nice passes and won the ball back a lot. Looks to be a key part of Arteta’s system. 7/10

Mesut Özil

His movement in the first half was excellent, peeling off into the pocket and picking up the ball to create chances. His first time touch sped the attack up for our goal and overall was very tidy. 6.5/10

Nicolas Pepe

Without a doubt has potential to be world class and was a real threat especially in the first half, however his end product is letting him down slightly at the moment. He was very unlucky when his shot struck the post in the second half. 6.5/10

Aubameyang

Clinical as ever, took the only chance of the game he got. Poor but accidental tackle on Meyer lead to him being given his marching order and after Arsenal struggled to get out. Going to be a huge miss in the next three games. 6/10

Alexandre Lacazette

Excellent through ball for the goal and linked up the play well between the front three. Worked very hard, but looked isolated when we went down to 10 men. Missed a big chance in the second half and we need his shooting boots back in Aubameyang’s absence if we are to get results. 7/10

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James Humphreys