Top Class Giroud Scores 50th Goal To Put Arsenal 3rd

Match Review: Crystal Palace 1 Arsenal 2 - Premier League 21.02.15

Arsenal moved into the top three, as Saturday proved very fruitful for the Gunners. A gritty away win at Palace, was made sweeter by Man United’s defeat at Swansea which sees us leapfrog them into the Champions League places. With Sp*rs also dropping points and Southampton’s defeat to Liverpool, it’s been a near perfect weekend for us.

Arsenal went with the 4-2-3-1 that saw off Middlesbrough, with Chambers continuing at right back and Coquelin replacing Flamini. Welbeck played on the right and Ospina came back into the starting line up too. The subs bench saw a return for Jack Wilshere after his latest injury, which is excellent news given that Ramsey will be out until mid March.

We made quick start too, with Danny Welbeck proving too much for the debutant Souaré. The striker stole the ball off the left back, who then fouled Welbeck in trying to win it back. Initially the contact appeared to be a fraction outside the box, but as the foul continued into the box, I think it was a penalty. Cazorla stepped up and slotted the penalty home calmly, continuing his awesome penalty record for the season.

Palace, to their credit, reacted extremely well. They pressed aggressively and put pressure on us down the right, with Zaha causing a lot of problems for Monreal. But despite the pressure they put on us, they couldn’t create any real chances. I think that was largely down to us defending our area really well, in fact so well that Crystal Palace failed to get a single shot on target in the first half. With the home side unable to make good on their attacking threat, we took advantage.

Image © www.arsenal.com 

Danny Welbeck was involved again, latching onto Alexis’ through ball, although he looked fractionally offside. Welbeck forced Speroni into a save, but Giroud followed in and prodded in a proper poacher’s goal, his 50th for the club. He’s now been directly involved (scored or assisted) in 77 goals for the Gunners in 117 appearances. For a striker who’s supposedly not ‘top quality’ I’d say that’s pretty handy. Not to mention he’s gorgeous…

The second half was short on quality in truth. Crystal Palace still could find no end product to their spells of possession, while for our part, I think we lost our focus a tad and got a bit too comfortable with the two goal lead. Our one big moment came on the break, when Özil did superbly to set Alexis clear, but he couldn’t squeeze the ball in from a tight angle. That was a big miss for us, because at 3-0 the game would have been finished. As it was, Palace rallied and gave us a very nervy finish.

With just a couple of minutes left in stoppage time, Palace pulled one back. A corner to the back post caused a scramble and it was Glenn Murray who eventually scuffed the ball in. Initially it looked as if it would just be a consolation and a lost clean sheet for us, but we let them get the ball back from kick off and suddenly they poured forward again. This time Bolasie got the cross in and Glenn Murray was there again, but by the grace of Bergkamp, his header cannoned off the post and into Ospina’s waiting gloves.

Whilst I would contest the notion that we were lucky to win the game, I certainly think we got away with switching off right at the end. We lost our focus and nearly lost the three points. However, overall I think we deserved the win. We took the chances on offer, apart from the Sanchez chance, and we defended our area resolutely. Out of their 22 shots, only 3 were on target, whilst we completed over 70 clearances. People can’t moan when we defend poorly and then complain that we got ‘lucky’ when we withstand a performance like the one Palace put on against us. The home side played very well and we did brilliantly to get a win. Couple that with Sp*rs dropping points at home to West Ham, United’s defeat and Southampton’s loss to Liverpool and it’s been a very good weekend for us. However, Wednesday night will require greater focus. We can’t afford to concede cheap goals against Monaco, with away goals such huge factor in the Champions League.

Teams

Crystal Palace (4-3-3)
Speroni, Ward, Delaney, Dann, Souaré, Ledley (Ameobi 80’), Mutch (Y), Puncheon, Gayle (Murray 79’), Zaha, Campbell (Bolasie 57’)
Subs
Hangeland, Bolasie, Hennessey, Jedinak, Murray, Ameobi, Kelly

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Ospina, Chambers (Y), Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin (Y), Cazorla, Alexis (Gabriel 89’), Özil (Rosicky 76’), Welbeck (Gibbs 77’), Giroud (Y)
Subs
Szczesny, Bellerin, Gabriel, Gibbs, Rosicky, Wilshere, Walcott

Player Ratings

Ospina - 6/10 - Had a few flappy moments and didn’t look comfortable
Chambers - 7/10 - Did a good enough job, but I think his future is at centre back
Mertesacker - 8/10 - An important part of keeping Crystal Palace at arm’s length
Koscielny - 8/10 - The same as Mertesacker, a very good performance
Monreal - 7/10 - Struggled with Zaha initially, but steadied himself as the match went on
Coquelin - 8/10 - Bar a dodgy tackle in the first half, he was excellent again
Cazorla - 8/10 - Tucked away the penalty and did a great job both defending and attacking
Alexis - 7/10 - Worked hard, but probably should have scored his big chance
Özil - 7/10 - I love watching him, he was made to play for Arsenal
Welbeck - 8/10 - Played a big part in both goals and his all round play was excellent
Giroud - 8/10 - Enjoying a wonderful season and is defying his critics emphatically
Subs
N/A - None of the subs were able to influence the game hugely

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