An uncomfortable afternoon, to say the least. Arsenal were never in control of the game and spent too long stuck in their own half to my liking, and if not for the post 94 minutes of hard work would have been flushed down the crapper.

Palace threw everything at us. They had a simple gameplan of getting the ball into wide areas, particularly Zaha, and getting their wide players running at our defence. Monreal struggled a lot against Zaha in the first half and it was fortunate that the Palace man didn't have any end product whatsoever, otherwise we would have been in serious trouble.

There was an element of untidyness about the way we defended. Palace played direct and despite having a height and power advantage over their forwards, we didn't look comfortable dealing with those direct balls, let the ball bounce in our third too many times and, in that Arsenal way, struggled to clear our lines. There was a certain lack of authority back there, and that remained throughout the whole game.

Arsenal's ball retention wasn't too good, either. There weren't many occasions that we had control of the ball in Palace's half. The game was too much of a scrap for us to really play our usual game.

Where we won the game in the end was through our threat on the counter attack. Welbeck was instrumental in both goals, while Ozil and Alexis often combined to good effect. Palace threw men forward all game, and we really should have punished them more, but a lot of our second half counters broke down due to Giroud being unable to hold up the ball or successfully lay it off to a teammate; you could see Ozil was clearly frustrated with him.

At 2-0 I wasn't particularly comfortable and Ospina didn't help, especially when he decided to charge out of his box and try and head the ball away after going over Mertesacker. From corners he tried to come and collect but I thought he struggled a bit of the physicality in the box. He's done well since coming into the team but I'm yet to be convinced by him and can sense a major mistake coming sooner or later.

Murray made it 2-1 after we failed to clear a corner, and then he hit the base of the post seconds later. I think we were fortunate that Pardew didn't have Chamakh available, and decided to keep his taller strikers on the bench, given how uncomfortable our defence was all afternoon. The fact that Zaha and Bolasie have no end product also helped a lot.

In the end, we got through it with three points. Selhurst Park is a hard place to play - I recall us not having an easy time of it there last season as well. Today's win was especially important as United had lost at Swansea and Soton and Liverpool play each other tomorrow. All going well, we could stay in third by the end of the weekend.

A miserly, tough-to-beat Monaco side await us on Wednesday.

Well said, Jay.

Funnily enough, we probably would have drawn/lost if Sanogo was playing

Need to play the full 90. No dropping off even in the dying seconds of the game. Monaco will be a huge test.

It's amazing how you always find something to write about even when most of our matches are 70% the same, props for that  

srigooner wrote:Also, I think we should save this as a template:

Pretty crap performance, < INSERT OPPONENT NAME > were hungrier, pressed us, disrupted our passing, wouldn't let us maneuver out of tight spaces.

This time it was Crystal Palace

We are now above United 3rd place. Seeing out the league in that spot is all I ask.

Great 3 points.

Match was one of those where we had to hustle and show grit for majority of the time and depend on luck at some points.

It worked out well in the end.

Thought Welbeck and Coquelin were great. Ozil was very good too.

Giroud's 50th goal

Was Sanogo starting/playing for them in other matches, and only didn't today because of the loan rules?

I have to say that I find this 'can't play against parent club' rule utterly ridiculous and very cowardly from big clubs.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Was Sanogo starting/playing for them in other matches, and only didn't today because of the loan rules?

I have to say that I find this 'can't play against parent club' rule utterly ridiculous and very cowardly from big clubs.

Yes and same. Think Wenger has said he'd be open to playing vs own players.

At the time I think our only PL loan was Bendtner to Sunderland so that means nothing lol

Yes I know Wenger wants it to change.

I think it's pretty clear distortion of competition tbh.

Also, it's always a great story if a loaned out player scores against his parent club, to show them they shouldn't have let him go etc pp.

It's different in Europe though? Courtois played vs Chelsea with Atletico IIRC so I'm assuming England is alone on this one.

Yes it's a Premier League rule, not a FIFA/UEFA rule.

Well that was a fun ending.

Horrible performance, but 3 important points. Imagine had they draw? this place would have gone on fire. the post had a better game than Ospina.

Palace almost equalised right after getting one back in stoppage time

We're horrible when teams just put us under a bit of pressure.

El Gunner wrote:Palace almost equalised right after getting one back in stoppage time

We're horrible.

Terrific result today, bad game.

Honestly, I was having so many streaming problems with my NBC Live Extra stream (wonky Internet connection today), I turned the feed off around 67' when we were 2-0 up and just crossed my fingers for the best. So I can't say I have the most detailed view of the game.

It did seem that the officiating was quite bad, although I was thankful that in a few cases, shockingly, it benefited Arsenal. Özil looked good; Welbeck's workrate seemed very helpful. But as a team performance, too lackluster, and we were lucky. Just my limited perspective.

I actually didn't think our defense was too bad. Crystal Palace sent a lot of crosses into the box (mainly because Monreal and Chambers are simply not good in one-on-one situations) and Koscielny and especially Mertesacker dealt with them pretty easily. There were a couple of times where the players were hesitant to clear the ball and tried to play it out when really a huge hoof up the field was required (see final goal).

Ospina really hasn't convinced for me, and seems to get injured in the slightest of contact.

I don't know about Ozil in the midfield as I felt he completely killed our shape. We were playing more 4-2-3-1 with Ozil very high up the pitch and the wingers having to do a lot of defensive work.

I've been very impressed with Giroud's mobility and agility. A couple of times he did a simple twist, or drop of the shoulder to get free. He's in great form. Hope he keeps it up for the rest of the season.

I also felt Crystal Palace's pressing game suited us as we managed to beat the pressing pretty easily.

Too of doom & gloom in here,tbh.
C'mon guys we're up & running and have serious chances of finishing 3rd now.

Yeah,I do agree as to how Ospina doesn't inspire any confidence but I believe this being his first season in EPL,having a unfamiliar defence in front of him all do play a significant role.

Though,there's this habit of flapping balls into dangerous areas I believe it can be rectified or at least it can be tried.And with coordination from the defence I believe he can improve it given time.

Hapless_Hans wrote:Yes I know Wenger wants it to change.

I think it's pretty clear distortion of competition tbh.

Also, it's always a great story if a loaned out player scores against his parent club, to show them they shouldn't have let him go etc pp.

Can also put it other way around. Loaned out player sabotages game against parent club and screws over loaning club and becomes a fanbase legend

I do not find the rule ridiculous at all. It is preventive, if anything. If we lived in an ideal world where everyone played fair, then I would completely agree with you on perfect competition. But that's utopian and far removed from reality.

Besides, any and every thing done by the said loanee in said game will be construed as for/against parent/loaning club - this way, it protects the player from (un)fair, microscopic media/fan scrutiny.

Rev wrote:

srigooner wrote:Also, I think we should save this as a template:

Pretty crap performance, < INSERT OPPONENT NAME > were hungrier, pressed us, disrupted our passing, wouldn't let us maneuver out of tight spaces.

This time it was Crystal Palace

srigooner wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:Yes I know Wenger wants it to change.

I think it's pretty clear distortion of competition tbh.

Also, it's always a great story if a loaned out player scores against his parent club, to show them they shouldn't have let him go etc pp.

Can also put it other way around. Loaned out player sabotages game against parent club and screws over loaning club and becomes a fanbase legend

I do not find the rule ridiculous at all. It is preventive, if anything. If we lived in an ideal world where everyone played fair, then I would completely agree with you on perfect competition. But that's utopian and far removed from reality.

Besides, any and every thing done by the said loanee in said game will be construed as for/against parent/loaning club - this way, it protects the player from (un)fair, microscopic media/fan scrutiny.

Why are there no such worries in the Champions League where the stakes are infinitely higher? Courtois as one of Atletico's most important players in a semi-final doesn't bring in a question of morality and ethics but playing Sunderland with or without Bendtner does?

There's merit to both sides of the argument to be fair. Clearly, while the English FA takes one stance, UEFA puts its eggs in the other. Besides, UEFA is not some holier than thou organization anyway

I personally find it kind of stupid that a club would deem a player not good enough and therefore loan them to a team that they'll end up playing but the same player is enough of a threat that they're not allowed to play against them?

Well you can't win them all comfortably. Massive 3 points tho.

Knew Palace would be up for it. That was Girouds 50th goal wasn't it not a bad return really after 3 seasons..

On the Monaco now

A very edgy display, but a 15th win in 19 games, nevertheless.

I was very surprised that Bellerin & Gibbs didn't start against Palace's pacey wingers - the decision to start Chambers & Monreal almost back-fired. Ospina continues to scare me - I really doubt he is our next top number one keeper.

It would be ideal for Alexis to get on the score-sheet this week against Monaco or Everton. He hasn't scored in a few weeks.