Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal: Arteta and Giroud down Eagles
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
Arsene Wenger’s men were made to fight for a win at Selhurst Park as a combination of Crystal Palace’s stern resistance and tiredness from their Champions League exploits saw them grind out a 1-0 win on Saturday.
Mikel Arteta converted the penalty after Serge Gnabry was brought down in the box but the Spaniard was later given his marching orders for felling Marouane Chamakh when the Palace forward was through on goal.
The ten men of Arsenal held on to clinch victory after a late barrage from the hosts, snatching a second through Olivier Giroud, and extended their lead at the top to five points – even just for a few hours.
Key Stats:
The stats reflected a quite even game in terms of chances created and Arsenal were just that bit more clinical as they came away with two goals for their trouble while Palace wasted several golden opportunities that came their way.
The Gunners dominated possession but they struggled at times to make it tell as Palace always posed a threat on the counter with former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh guilty of wastefulness in front of goal.
Man of the Match:
Wojciech Szczesny had to be on top form to ensure Arsenal won all three points at Selhurst Park with a string of smart saves from the likes of Chamakh.
The goalkeeper recorded a Squawka performance score of 66 between the sticks to earn him the man-of-the-match award and a valuable clean sheet to go with it.
He also retained the ball extremely well with a 84 per cent pass accuracy rate to ensure that Palace didn’t build up steam in the latter stages of the match.
Performance Score:
The match started off as a even contest between the two sides, but Arsenal’s quality soon told as they pulled away in the first half in terms of Squawka’s performance score.
However, by half-time, Palace had recovered to close the gap but Arteta’s penalty put Arsenal into the lead once more, holding onto it until the final whistle despite the sending off.
Key Observations:
Strangely enough considering Palace’s frailty and Arsenal’s superior fire-power, the match boiled down to two excellent defensive showings from the two sides. The hosts’ duo of Damien Delaney and Danny Gabbidon did a superb job of holding out Giroud, Ozil and co. and only a rash tackle from Adlene Guedioura let the Gunners in until Giroud’s late header.
Under the stewardship of caretaker Keith Millen, the Eagles were much improved and if they were a bit more clinical in front of goal, they could have taken a point from the visitors with several chances going begging throughout the match.
As for Arsenal, Wenger will be happy with the result but the performance was subdued, perhaps due to their midweek defeat against Dortmund. But like any good title-winning side, the Gunners ground out a win despite not hitting top gear.