The dust still hasn't settled following our hard-fought win against Palace, but, whatever the critics may say, it was a win well deserved by the Gunners. Our mental test is behind us, the team has once again showcased their exceptional ability to bounce back and, oh yeah, we are still top of the league.
As expected, Flamini started the game, while Whilsere did not. Rosicky was also benched in favour of Santi Cazorla. The Frenchman didn't last long, however. He was substituted by Gnabry in the 8th minute, apparently having sustained a groin injury. I missed the moment, when he started to limp, but, either way, our game plan was disrupted once more.
Arsenal could have gone ahead in the third minute already, only for Giroud to head over from a Sagna cross. We didn't create anything of note till the 35th minute, despite dominating territory and possession. Palace defended deep and tried to catch us on the break, with Bannan heading over and then curling his effort wide of the far post. Our old pal Chamakh, meanwhile, troubled Szscesny with a low shot.
As the half-time whistle drew near, we created two clear-cut chances. Cazorla mis-hit his low cross/shot and Ramsey's drive was battered away by Speroni. Ozil had a chance of his own, but chose to play the ball to Giroud, thus wasting a good shooting opportunity.
Within 120 seconds after the restart, Arsenal was ahead. Gnabry was mowed down in the box, ref pointed to the spot and Arteta converted. We seemed to have finally found our feet, especially when Giroud spurned a glorious opportunity, but we were once again thrown off course in the 65th minute.
Palace tried to catch us on counter-attack, played a long ball towards Chamakh who was bundled over by Arteta some 40 yards away from goal. Chris Foy didn't hesitate in sending the Spaniard off, but replays showed it was Chamakh, who had his hands all over our skipper, not the other way around. The game turned on a dime.
Whilshere and Monreal soon came on to replace Gnabry and Cazorla respectively. Palace started poking and probing at our defense and could have equalised twice in the upcoming minutes, only to be denied by Szczesny.
He tipped Ward's effort over, after our defense fell prey to a simple one-two and then parried Jedinak's effort away to safety, following a corner.
Surprisingly, Arsenal found their way not long after that. You could sense something was coming, when an unmarked Ozil nearly found the net with a volley. And in the 88th minute our never-say-die attitude paid off.
Our trademark counter-attack ended up with a brilliant cross from Ramsey and, this time, Giroud's header was true. 2-0 and game over.
After the game, the manager has hailed our fantastic attitude, which made it possible for us to win this game in unfavourable circumstances. We kept our shape, defended well and took our chance on the break, following the suspension. A mature performance yet again.
Arsene also confirmed Flamini's groin injury and spoke about the atrocious quality of the pitch at Selhurst Park. I'm no specialist, but the pitch really did look to be in a bad shape. Gosh, is there no standard here? Why the referees don't check the quality of the pitch before the game the way the check the net for holes?
Either way, we did what we needed to, so forget stupid match officials and Chamakh's dreadful haircut. Have yourselves a good weekend
As expected, Flamini started the game, while Whilsere did not. Rosicky was also benched in favour of Santi Cazorla. The Frenchman didn't last long, however. He was substituted by Gnabry in the 8th minute, apparently having sustained a groin injury. I missed the moment, when he started to limp, but, either way, our game plan was disrupted once more.
Arsenal could have gone ahead in the third minute already, only for Giroud to head over from a Sagna cross. We didn't create anything of note till the 35th minute, despite dominating territory and possession. Palace defended deep and tried to catch us on the break, with Bannan heading over and then curling his effort wide of the far post. Our old pal Chamakh, meanwhile, troubled Szscesny with a low shot.
As the half-time whistle drew near, we created two clear-cut chances. Cazorla mis-hit his low cross/shot and Ramsey's drive was battered away by Speroni. Ozil had a chance of his own, but chose to play the ball to Giroud, thus wasting a good shooting opportunity.
Within 120 seconds after the restart, Arsenal was ahead. Gnabry was mowed down in the box, ref pointed to the spot and Arteta converted. We seemed to have finally found our feet, especially when Giroud spurned a glorious opportunity, but we were once again thrown off course in the 65th minute.
Palace tried to catch us on counter-attack, played a long ball towards Chamakh who was bundled over by Arteta some 40 yards away from goal. Chris Foy didn't hesitate in sending the Spaniard off, but replays showed it was Chamakh, who had his hands all over our skipper, not the other way around. The game turned on a dime.
Whilshere and Monreal soon came on to replace Gnabry and Cazorla respectively. Palace started poking and probing at our defense and could have equalised twice in the upcoming minutes, only to be denied by Szczesny.
He tipped Ward's effort over, after our defense fell prey to a simple one-two and then parried Jedinak's effort away to safety, following a corner.
Surprisingly, Arsenal found their way not long after that. You could sense something was coming, when an unmarked Ozil nearly found the net with a volley. And in the 88th minute our never-say-die attitude paid off.
Our trademark counter-attack ended up with a brilliant cross from Ramsey and, this time, Giroud's header was true. 2-0 and game over.
After the game, the manager has hailed our fantastic attitude, which made it possible for us to win this game in unfavourable circumstances. We kept our shape, defended well and took our chance on the break, following the suspension. A mature performance yet again.
Arsene also confirmed Flamini's groin injury and spoke about the atrocious quality of the pitch at Selhurst Park. I'm no specialist, but the pitch really did look to be in a bad shape. Gosh, is there no standard here? Why the referees don't check the quality of the pitch before the game the way the check the net for holes?
Either way, we did what we needed to, so forget stupid match officials and Chamakh's dreadful haircut. Have yourselves a good weekend
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