Arsenal laboured to a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park to get their first competition points of the season.
The Gunners made a perfect start to the match, creating a myriad of chances in the opening minutes before taking the lead with Olivier Giroud’s fantastic left-footed strike. The Frenchman had not scored in eight matches for the Gunners but acrobatically connected with Mesut Ozil’s cross to beat Alex McCarthy.
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However, the Gunners conceded an equaliser midway through the half after Joel Ward picked out the bottom corner with a shot from outside the box. It was a near carbon-copy of the goal conceded last week against West Ham, with Laurent Koscielny failing to close down the man with the ball, who promptly slotted the ball into the net.
The Gunners continued to show remarkably poor finishing ability but were saved by the boot of Palace defender Damien Delaney, who directed Sanchez’s back post header into the net. Arsenal’s campaign is now truly underway, but Palace should hold their heads high for a strong performance.
Ramsey’s movement excites, but only centrally
Arsene Wenger has a highly talented group of players to call upon and has persistently struggled to find the perfect balance for his starting eleven. This situation is perfectly encapsulated in the performance of Aaron Ramsey, who lined up on the right flank in place of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Welshman did enjoy one of his better games, but most of his touches did occur in the central areas as he persistently drifted infield. Indeed, on some occasions he would be more on the left side of the field than the right.
Thought we'd opt for pace and width today.
Ramsey in the front three.
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) August 16, 2015
Although Bellerin looked to push forward, he was often pinned back marking Zaha or Bolasie, leaving a giant area of the field under-utilised by the Gunners. Ramsey operates best in the centre, but Cazorla has also thrived in the role of a deep-lying playmaker. It now up to Wenger to decide which one starts in that role, and the other may have to sit on the bench. With Sanchez liking to drift in from the left, and clearly the club’s most dangerous player moving forward, the right flank needs to be occupied by a player that will stay wide more often than not.
Sanchez is brilliant, but underdone
The Chilean made a shock start after coming off the bench last week against West Ham ahead of the impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain and did help put his side back in front after forcing an own goal from Delaney. However, it was clear that he wasn’t at his best, failing to track back on several occasions and spurning some good chances in the first half of football. Having played almost non-stop football for two years now, Sanchez needs to be managed properly if he is to be fit for a title run-in later in the season.
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Palace show spirit
Matched up against a Premier League heavyweight, Palace did take the defensive role despite being the home side. While Arsenal did pepper the penalty area with an array of passes, more often than not a desperate Palace defender would be in the way to deny the visitors. The wide men of the home side, Zaha and Bolasie in particular, provided some entertaining passages of play down the flanks, and Joel Ward played the role of overlapping fullback well aside from the second goal. They lacked the level of international class possessed by Arsenal in the end, but certainly the Eagles have shown they have what it takes to push for the top half of the table this season.
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