Arsenal got off to a bright start in their game at Crystal
Palace today. They had three quality chances to score within the first 12
minutes and finally made the pressure pay off in the 16th, when a
cross from Ozil was well met by Giroud, who acrobatically buried it just beyond
the reach of the Palace keeper. Arsenal could have been out of reach soon
after, but a couple more missed opportunities followed, with Sanchez guilty of
at least two in the first 20 minutes. Then, even as Arsenal continued to
dominate, Crystal suddenly made something out of nothing, with the right back
Ward sending a pitch perfect shot into the far corner, just passed the
outstretched arms of Petr Cech, who maybe could have done better (beaten for
the third time in two games). Arsenal were dominating possession, had more
shots, and were nonetheless even. As the first half wore on, Crystal started to
shape into the game and had spells of possession themselves, with a couple of
opportunities to take the lead.
The second half started with Crystal in the ascendancy, as a
Zaha cross found Wickham yards from the goal. Instead of finishing off the
chance, he hit the inside of the bar and it rebounded out. Ozil then showed
some incredible ball skill, saving a long kick from Cech at the line and then
earning a free kick. Arsenal had that and two corners in quick succession but
were unable to make them count, with yet another Ramsey shot blocked soon
after, in the 54th minute. In the 56th minute, the pressure
finally paid off when Ramsey sent the ball wide to Bellerin, who crossed to the
far post where the diminutive Alexis Sanchez made up for some earlier misses by
rising above the Crystal defender and heading it home (off Delaney, who was
awarded the own goal even as I think the ball would have buried itself in the
opposite corner if he hadn’t intervened).
On 61 minutes, Coquelin committed a third bookable challenge of the
game, lucky not to be sent off after Pardew thought he should have been right
before halftime (and had a point, really). Wenger did the wise thing and
replaced him two minutes later, though surprisingly with Oxlade-Chamberlain rather
than Arteta.
The game was back and forth in the final 20 minutes, as Ox
was set on goal, before a fine last second block from Delaney ended the threat.
Then Crystal were forward and had two good chances to score within a couple of
minutes, as Cech again struggled with getting to a cross and Wickham shooting
just wide with an inexplicable wide open shot from about 14 yards out. In the
75th minute, Arteta came on for Sanchez, making his first appearance
since last November. In the 80th minute, Patrick Bamford came on,
yet another Chelsea player out on loan with a rival. After several minutes of
giving the ball away needlessly with too ambitious passes, Arsenal settled and
began dominating possession again. Gibbs came on for Ozil, who had a fine game
with his slick passing and retention of possession throughout, in the 83rd
minute and a minute later an Arteta free kick toward Giroud could have easily
led to a penalty, with Giroud clearly pushed in the back by Delaney inside the
box. With four minutes left, Crystal earned a corner they didn’t deserve
(rather obviously), after some indecision from the sideline official. They
almost scored from that corner, but for Morrison not realizing the ball was
about to hit him in the head. Cech then kicked the ball straight out of bounds,
further troubling Arsenal fans who can’t help but notice his shakiness for a
second game running (after a fine performance against his old team in the
Community Shield). Crystal had another corner and this time Cech was perfectly
positioned to catch a free header and Arsenal were soon on the counter again,
though a fine save stopped them from collecting a third. Ramsey gave away the
resulting corner yet again, for arguably the 15th or 20th
time in the game, giving Crystal a final chance to search out an equalizer. Yet
Arsenal held on for the 2-1 victory, ultimately barging 59 percent of
possession and launching 20 shots (with 7 on target, to Crystal’s 11 and 4). Some
thoughts:
1.
Ramsey and Sanchez: the EPL in the early going
of the season is being dominated by counterattacking football, with visitors
winning or drawing more games than one would expect statistically, And when a
team is sitting deep waiting for the opportunity to get forward, it’s important
not to give the ball away in dangerous areas. Ramsey and Sanchez both do so far
too often, and even as they were both part of the second Arsenal goal, they
need to improve their decision-making as they were lucky not to be punished for
their carelessness. Ramsey played some decent football, but gave the ball away
with too ambitious passes or carelessness rather frequently. And Sanchez was
not much better, missing at least five chances to score while playing his high-octane
football without much bite – until the all-important second goal. In the
seventh minute he was set in on goal by Ozil but took one touch too many and
got caught from behind, killing a great chance to take the lead. This continued
throughout the game with both his crosses and shots blocked over and over
again. More infuriating was Ramsey, who had a couple chances to take shots and
instead tried to get cute with an extra pass, the Arsenal curse of a few years
ago that we can hope is not repeated, trying to pass the ball into the net.
Ramsey also had a good chance to seal it from an Ozil pass in the 68th
minute, but sent it over, before needlessly giving the ball away several more
times as Arsenal tried to hold onto the lead. Sanchez was still among the best
players on the pitch, but Ramsey seems to have picked back up some of his bad
habits from a few years ago, and should maybe be benched for a game or two to
pressure him into improving his performance.
2.
Pardew and Crystal: Pardew has rejuvenated a
team that was struggling last term and followed that up with a winner in the
opener. Maybe more impressive than the points haul is the way the team plays,
an attractive brand of counterattacking football based on bursts of speed and
clever passing exchanges. He has built a quality team that should be in the mid
table again this year, or maybe a little better depending on the performance of
teams like Southampton, Tottenham and Stoke. Cabaye has clearly improved them across the
midfield and they have impressive wingers in an improved Zaha and dangerous
Bolasie.
3.
Cech and the Defense: Arsenal’s run from
Christmas through April last year was largely the result of playing stronger
defensive football and relatively solid goalkeeping from Ospina. That pecuniary
nature has not been evident so far this season, with the Gunners conceding
three goals in two games, with Cech arguably guilty on all of them, seeming a
little slow to react to shots and crosses at the moment. But the bigger issue
is the way Crystal Palace got forward on Arsenal so often, getting into
dangerous positions and almost taking the lead. It is early going and one
shouldn’t read too much into the rustiness of Cech, the defense or even Ramsey
and Sanchez, but the quality of opponent will be improving in the coming weeks
and that shift will have to accelerate if they are not to repeat the failure of
the past.
4.
Wenger Selection Woes: Arsenal started the game
as they had the end of last year, with Cazorla playing deeper alongside
Coquelin. And it was an effective strategy that kept Arsenal charging forward
throughout the game. The head scratcher in this one was why Ox didn’t start,
after being the solitary shining light in their terrible 2-0 loss to West Ham
last week. Wenger has a lot of options off the bench, but will have to find his
best 11 in the coming weeks and try to find reasonable playing time for Walcott
and Ox going forward. He seems to have realized his mistake from Week 1,
though, returning Cazorla to his best position. A real concern might be the
recklessness of Coquelin and the decline in form of Ramsey going back to the
end of last season.
Next up for Arsenal is a home game against Liverpool a week
Monday while Crystal Palace host the reeling Aston Villa on Saturday.
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