Crystal Palace review: grinding it out

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

Crystal Palace preview: redemption?

Morning everyone.

Today's game (which will kick off earlier, than usual) is, according to tabloids, a chance for the Gunners to redeem themselves. Our Champions League encounter is something of an embarrassment, if mass media`s point of view has merit. And that's a big «if» in my opinion.

I've already said, I find nothing shameful in a loss to a team as good as yours. Arsene was right about Borussia`s physical condition, when he said that the Germans were a notch above anyone we played this season. You could see it with your own eyes, especially in the first half, how able Jurgen Klopp`s team was. They basically deprived us off possession for prolonged periods of time and their pressing off the ball ensured we could do little with it, when we finally laid our, erm, legs on it.

In the second half, the teams swapped places. We attacked, they defended, both sides had little success (but Arsenal just that little bit less).

We saw two very different sides of Borussia, and both were exceptionally able. Both were also in fine physical form, as good as ours, maybe better.

Fitness issues aside, Jurgen Klopp`s side also has a number of technical players (surprise, surprise) and, even Goetze`s absence wasn't noticeable. They didn't get to the final without reason, so at the moment, it's one of the best European teams we've lost to.

And even after admitting Borussia is as good as we are, I don't think we would have seen to many raised eyebrows, had the game ended in a draw, or had Arsenal grabbed a winner in the second half.

Their win also didn't happen only due to how good they were. Arsenal wasn't exactly at their best, with exhaustion having kicked in and the overconfidence of some players also hampering our chances. Both goals, we have conceded were completely avoidable, had Ramsey not decided to dribble his way out of trouble on the edge of the box, while facing three opponents and had we not tried so desperately to win, throwing everyone forward, thus exposing or own goal.

So any talk of redemption is complete and utter crap. Just knock the steam off some overly enthusiastic individuals and we should be fine.

In terms of availability, Flamini is back, and I expect him to start alongside Arteta. His presence and overall discipline was thoroughly missed on Tuesday and I see no reason to omit him today.

Whilshere is still a doubt, having jarred his ankle, but even if he is fit, he'd probably be rested. He's pivotal to our success, so the manager won't want to take any chances with him, especially when it can come at a cost in the long run.

Apart from that, I don't think Arsene will field a much changed side. Guys like Gnabry, Bendtner and Vermaelen will get their respective chances midweek, when we play Chelsea in the CoC. The Belgian, by the way, was praised by the manager for his fantastic attitude in training, saying, that when he's called upon, Thomas will be ready. Good to hear. That's what competition does to people.

I don't think, Crystal Palace will be up to scratch, when it comes to providing us with a test, but our test is of another kind. Should we pass it, the now managerless Palace will be demolished. So here's for a win and a good display. Come on you reds.

Not much else going on, so I'll leave it at that. There's this piece from our former skipper, that provides for an interesting read, so check it out.

Back later with a review