Arsenal: Ramsdale, Partey, White, Saliba, Tomiyasu, Rice, Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah
Subs: Raya, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Gabriel, Jorginho, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Vieira, Trossard
–
Arsenal made it back-to-back wins in the Premier League after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 thanks to a penalty from captain Martin Odegaard.
For the second consecutive game, Gabriel was left on the bench amid rumours of Saudi Arabia interest with Takehiro Tomiyasu the only change for Jurrien Timber at left back.
Both teams were evenly matched early on with Arsenal creating some early openings, but Palace grew into the game with Jordan Ayew and Ebere Eze both forcing Aaron Ramsdale into action.
The Gunners’ came closest to breaking the deadlock after 30 minutes when Eddie Nketiah turned smartly in the box and held off two Palace defenders, but saw his left-footed effort hit the post and bounce to safety.
Just moments later, Nketiah found himself through again after excellent movement and vision from Declan Rice but overhit his lobbed finish as goalkeeper Sam Johnstone came rushing out.
Clear-cut chances were hard to come by with Palace defending well and in numbers, although Odegaard did try his luck from range which forced Johnstone into another smart save before half time.
But their frustrations would only last seven minutes into the second half after quick thinking from Gabriel Martinelli carved open a sleepy Palace defence, with Nketiah’s sharp movement and touch drawing a foul from Johnstone – resulting in a penalty kick.
Captain Odegaard stepped up, taking responsibility from previous penalty taker Bukayo Saka and passed his effort cooly into the corner with Johnstone diving the other way. 1-0.
Despite pushing for a second goal, Arsenal were reduced to ten men after Tomiyasu was booked twice in quick succession – once for time wasting in the 60th minute and again for pulling the shirt of Ayew in the 67th – although replays showed there was little contact from the defender.
There were more nervy moments ahead when Eze slalomed his way into the box and went to ground after being challenged by Thomas Partey, although VAR checked the incident and called no penalty.
After the red card, Palace were pressing for an equaliser with 80% possession in their favour and should have levelled through Odsonne Edouard who headed wide from close range after Ben White got caught under the ball.
The introductions of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jorginho allowed Arsenal to keep possession with more conviction, although some excellent backs-to-the-wall defending from William Saliba and Gabriel kept Palace at bay despite them flooding the penalty box.
Tyrick Mitchell had a late chance to equalise after some pinball in the box but volleyed over with Ramsdale and a sea of yellow shirts in his way.
The final whistle was met with roars from the Arsenal bench and players respectively, who were made to work hard for three well deserved points at Selhurst Park.
Rice. What a player.
Phew!! My Precious!😁….my 3points….we need to stop grinding it out like a championship side though! There’s too much talent to drop behind the ball for 20minutes…i nearly had a fit!
Thanks, I just wanted to make this comment but you already did.
You’re welcome! Another rear guard action like that and all our bowels are ruined! 😀
Bringing on jorghino & zinny, & pushing havertz up top as an outlet earlier would’ve probably helped (as it did when they came on) but Palace are a good side.
Surely the level of competition in the prem hasn’t dropped that low that we’re expected to dominate possession even when down to 10 men, away from home?
Heroic defending by Arsenal. That referee is an incompetent.
Time wasting at 60 minutes was a) complete stupidity, and b) embarassing for our club. Second yellow was obviously a dive that the referee should have spotted, but you always put yourself in a vulnerable position by being on that yellow in the first place.
Ayew himself should have been sent off on 50 mins (v. Saka).
Ayews first yellow was a nonsense though.
His studs were up on our lads ankle, how is it not a yellow?
Half of our scrappy wins for the first half of last season were like this, us coming from behind to win after some mistake and closing out the game very defensively. We’ll grind them out until we hit our stride.
Let’s hope………
I’d argue the first wasn’t even a yellow. On commentary, Havertz had the ball for 14 seconds, Tomi just 8. If anyone should get it, Kai should have. We need to appeal this red 100%. Hard to believe but the referees are getting worse the more help they get. It’s almost as if a lack of diversity and basic accountability is having an effect.
Annoyingly we can’t appeal as it’s two yellow cards, which is just idiotic.
We were trying to control the pace of the game and frustrate Palace and draw them out.
Right, time wasting that early is some Newcastle behavior. We are better than that.
I can’t explain it, but referees just don’t like us. That yellow wouldn’t have been given against any of the other top six clubs… remember when Martinelli was booked twice in quick succession? I don’t understand why refs keep ruining this beautiful league… and David Coote is one of the worse. I dislike him; refs horribly with a smug look on his face.
Thank fuck we held on!
Simple question, for perspective: would any Citeh player have been given EITHER of those 2 yellows?
We all know the answer to that.
Yes! Been like that ever since I started going to games in 70’s!
Same old same old….
Yes the penalty is lucky. But that second yellow was an absolute fucking disgrace.
PGMOL can stick it. If they want increased accountability for time wasting then they better use var for red card decisions, because there will be a hell of a lot more of them. Clowns.
Cannot tell you how grateful I am for that win, because we are an absolute mess right now. Arteta needs some serious introspection and to sort this team out, because shaky doesn’t even begin to describe that performance.
We should have been 2-0 at half time though so it’s not really that’s bad.
What are you on about? We were doing fine and good value for our lead till the fucking ref stepped in and reduced us to 10 men. And even after that, sure palace had more possession but did fuck all with it. We defended well, fairly calmly and at no time did I think we were going to concede. There was no measure of desperation in our defence after the red card!
Yeah, you’re probably right. Probably just down to me not feeling particularly comfortable watching that match, especially in those last 20 minutes, but I’m glad not everyone is as pessimistic as me haha.
Have you just admitted somebody else other than yourself might be right about something?
Pull yourself together Maniac, have a little self-respect, this might be Arseblog but it’s still the internet (where nobody is ever wrong about anything and will defend their position no matter how indefensible it maybe)!,
I agree you were wrong…. but surely there’s no need for you to admit it.
Or ME?
That SHOULD have been “OR ME!”
Honestly… the free flowing football from last season is currently no where to be found.
Remembered that from pre-season last season there was just a spark about us… currently, it’s not there. Can’t even figure out what is wrong.
Nothing is wrong. We’re playing a different style of football.
style? this style is no style…
Well I don’t get it then!
Postecoglou in disguise. Arteta instilled a never say die spirit into the whole team and it’s there for all to see.
It’s not reality to expect us to win every game 4-0. That’s not how it works. A win is a win. Complain when they lose or draw.
What are you talking about? We were completely controlling the game. Yes, we should’ve pushed harder for a second but had it not been for a bs second yellow we would’ve cruised to the win.
We showed composure even after the red card. Was the complete opposite of a ‘shakey’ performance.
composure? we didn‘t see the ball in the last 20 min…
Great defending as a team keeping crystal palace from creating clear cut chances. I can’t remember ramsdale making any difficult saves through the whole match.
Disgraceful reffing.
Rice everywhere.
Would be great if we could just start playing Gabriel again with Ben White at RB. Putting Partey at RB just seems like a way to try and accommodate Havertz as a CM. Hopefully now Zinny is back we can stop with this experiment
Gabriel looks like rhat he is leaving. Sadly
Where did you here that? Last I heard, our position was that it would take an insane offer to even consider selling.
Obvs none of us actually knows.
Hear even.
that was rough. bullshit red card, but subs all seemed super defensive and inviting the pressure. I was hoping for Trossard. Still, job done. Onto the next one
Shit ref, except for when he didn’t give them a penalty. Then he was alright.
Should have had a yellow for that dive too…terrible reffing.
Shit ref, but he was alright when he gave us the penalty too. VAR checking for a possible attacking foul was comedy gold. You can’t even count the number of incompetent lads in the PGMOL.
In fairness Partey’s leg was pure vertical on replay’s. Eze stuck his leg out looking for contact
Really starting to dislike this ref.
Palace are a nightmare to play against without any help from the officials.
Two games six points – doesn’t really tell the full story but I’ll take it all day long – any win away at palace is a good 3 points
Stuff of Champion!
Nice to get the 3 points but we made hard work of it. Eddie isn’t Haarland but I wish he was.
Nice grit to get over the line after the sending off.
Move on.
Bloody hell Fats. You alright mate?
Something is wrong here
Never gonna be an easy 3 points at Selhurst – 1st team to take 3 points there during roy’s second coming. Don’t see any valid criticism of Eddie in this result, he played well
He should have taken one of those two chances in the first half.
But you’re right: a win at Palace is a very good result.
I thought the first where hit the post was very unlucky and he deserved better for the passage of play – the second maybe should’ve done better – but he also won us the pen which won the game…
Got laid recently Fats?
I am always fair. If we’re mierde then I say so. But if we’re ok then I’ll praise us.
The disappointing thing about last season was the lack of grit, especially towards the end of the season. It was important to get the result even if we didn’t play that well and had a player sent off.
But we need a quality striker. Eddie showed yet again tonight that he’s not the answer.
This game should have been more comfortable
Nketiah played incredibly well today. Rice had an excellent game. Ref was absolute sh*ite.
Seems to be taking a leaf out of Jesus’ book (not the Bible)
I wouldn’t say incredibly well given the chances he missed. But he was really good.
Played incredibly well today? No way bro. Missed a sitter. Won a lucky penalty where his initial touch took the ball all the way to Mars. I guess I’m blind because I clearly am not seeing what Nketiah is putting out.
He created the first chance himself and was very unlucky as for the second that was a no sitter. He played very well.id say he was was in top 4 of are performers last night.
Same feeling. Lot of criticism of Eddie but I thought he was good this game, definitely should have scored at least one, but credit to him for creating that first chance and was good overall.
People complaining about Eddie as usual but even when he doesn’t score he wins us penalties. Did it against City last season and won us the game today.
I’ve rarely seen a red card made of two bullsh*t yellows but somehow the ref managed it today. Well done to the team for pulling it out and the spirit, celebrating every defensive play down the stretch. Love to see that.
Eddie was very good – I was listening to talksport at half time – Danny Murphy made the point that we’d have to pay tens of millions for a player of eddies’ level – just to replace Eddie
Forgot about Martinelli’s double yellow.
bullshit? i saw them coming…
Neither of Tomi’s fouls were cards, who wrote the rule that a second yellow can’t be checked by VAR?? That aside, we just need to sharpen our attack because our defending with 10 men was excellent. Next time, Eddie finishes one of his chances and it’s 2-0 and much more relaxed.
First yellow we deserved. It’s a team yellow. We took way too long on that throw in and ref had to give someone a yellow.
2nd yellow is so wrong!!!! Why can’t VAR be used on these? Insane.
Couldn’t agree more. Team yellows for time wasting are more common this year. We should be okay on the whole as I’d imagine other teams will be wasting time against us than the other way around but it’s an adjustment to be made for sure
You’re half right. It was deserved, but the player who wasted the time was Havertz, not Tomiyasu. He had the ball for eight seconds and had actually thrown it back into play when that useless prick of a ref blew his whistle.
Havertz should have just received the throw from Martinelli and continued with the 300,000 passes. That’s the proper way to waste the time.
It’s not good football, yet. We look predictable, counter to what Arteta said. Gabriel needs to come back in, put Partey back in midfield and either play Havertz as a false nine or drop him.
Shooooo! That was nerve wrecking.
Can’t remember a more unjust red card in 50 years of watching football. 30 minutes with 10 men and a 1 game suspension for an 8-second throw in and a faint brush on Ayew’s back.
RVP against Barca…….
Martinelli 2 yellows in 90 seconds….
Always us
kai havertz gave him the classic hospital pass
And a red card to a player who is already a back-up to an injured player. The ref’s stupidity is gonna harm us for two games.
And was that the reason for it……?
Could be?
Yeah, we won, but that was fucking terrible. From the Martinelli level bullshit of that red card to the complete capitulation after it.
We lost one player but they completely abandoned any semblance of play. This system is not convincing and there appears to be a worrying lack of leadership, even at this early stage.
Wow – successfully defending a 1-0 with 10 men away from home is considered capitulation now is it? Crazy view
Sorry should have said ‘complete capitulation’. Not even just capitulation, it’s complete capitulation. What will be called if we lose from 2-0 up?
Don’t know what your issue is.
Arteta himself has said the best way to defend a lead is with ‘300,000 passes’ so not even attempting to play, completely giving up the ball and just going backs to the wall is an abandoning of the clubs ideals and yes, a capitulation. Some people may be impressed by that, but I’m not.
A complete capitulation is way over the top. Palace barely had a chance, we defended very well.
we didn‘t see the ball for 20 min???
I normally agree with similar sentiments, like back when we played Barcelona in the Champions League or various times we’ve played City. But keeping the ball vs. Pep teams is easier said than done, and so is doing it away at Palace with 10 men. I don’t think the new lineups Arteta is trying are really clicking yet (it doesn’t help to have crappy injuries) but I don’t think the time to judge that is going down to 10 men away from home. We mostly kept the ball when we could and only punted it away when it was too… Read more »
What game did you watch? That definitely wasn’t a capitulation.
Capitulation without getting any point? Interesting
Freaking ridiculous to give Tomiyasu a second yellow for breathing on the Palace player when Ayew on an early yellow pulls our player’s jersey after he gets beat soon after yet he just gets a foul on him and not another yellow. Feel for Tomiyasu on both calls, thought he had a really solid game and what a player to be to play so well as a left defender and one of the few players that is equally comfortable with either foot.
Tomiyasu offers us a really solid defensive option who is both footed! I cant wait for Zinchenko to be back for the games where need that extra cut and thrust from our wide players, but being able to use them both to their strengths will be very important!
I think alot of people are going to be surprised by Eddie’s greater importance in the team. He was excellent. Think he has gone up a level in pace and power.
He looked like an ox! Not the one with tic tacs and Sellotape for knees, an actual ox that could pull a cart through a muddy field.
He looked strong. Should’ve just said I agree he looked strong.
True, his surprising turn of pace and quick thinking won us the penalty, then he made that play towards the end when he knicked the ball forward and beat the defender with his pace, I was sure it was Saka at first because who else runs this fast for us? lol
Plus vs Monaco this preseason apart from his goal had a moment where he got the ball with his back to goal and made a sweet turn and pass you might expect Odegaard to make. I think he’s got stuff to his game he hasn’t fully shown yet…
Just about the softest red card I’ve ever seen. First yellow was more down to Havertz, and the second was very soft in itself. To win despite that was great.
that’s it, if you go to take a throw, take it, i
Is the time wasting really necessary? We should know better….
No, it’s not necessary and it’s embarrassing. Mikel needs to stop it, it always leads to us either losing momentum and conceding a goal or getting carded.
We didn’t really time-waste though, other than Havertz’s silly kicking the ball away. Tomiyasu took 8 bloody seconds to throw the ball out. He took about three times as much when it was 0-0!
We started time wasting with Ramsdale dicking about with Partey and the referee had already warned him, then we time wasted some more with Havertz and then Tomi got the card for team time wasting. Instructions from the coaches and Mikel needs to cut it out, it’s pathetic.
Ref made 2 correct penalty calls. But Tomiyasu should not have received a single yellow, nevermind a red card. Tomi got the ball for the whole of 7 seconds, threw it at the same time the ref blew for a yellow. Trigger happy innit? The second yellow proved the ref is an incompetent bloke. We defended like lions though. Loved the bit on the 96th minute when Jorginho shouted for the team to sprint back. 3 points away from Crystal Palace is always hard fought and welcome. COYG.
kai held it for almost half a minute, and Tommy got punished.
What if 8 successive players eachhold the ball for 8 seconds only. Over a minute of time wasting but no one gets booked? It is deliberate rotational time wasting and the ref has to book someone ?
We need to have designated throw takers for each section of the pitch, once you gather the ball, you need to throw it in
Eddie was excellent today in my opinion. Should have had a goal in the first half, but he lead the line like a true centre forward. I’ve always liked him and I root for him. Hopefully he keeps getting chances to prove his doubters wrong.
Partey, for me, is the best player at the club. He’s just so good, even playing out of position.
The player that got tommy sent off should have been sent off in the first half ref bottled it then decided to punish us … so happy we won but we need to bury these teams so the ref isn’t the deciding factor …
I Think Partey was excellent. We need to keep him at all costs.
It seems that every game is subject to a referee making some random bullshit decision.
Refereeing so far this season is a shitshow
Only THIS season… ?
10vs12 out there and we have the 3 points……and we go again Saturday 💪💪 COYG
Mental that you can’t VAR check a second yellow card, clearly that needs re-writing. Blatant dive by Ayew and crap refereeing once again. They always look so smug. Annoying the commentary/studio crew wants to talk more about taking our penalty away than how soft the red card was.
No Timber and no Tomi now. Glad Zinny is back at least and we got the 3 points so my day isn’t ruined.
Dreadful refereeing display AGAIN !!! for God’s sake though get Gabriel back in the team and stop pratting about Arteta ! He’s the drive the boss at the back and we miss him when he’s not there Whatever is up with Arteta & him it needs sorted. Now please !!!
Why? We were dominant before the red and when we needed him for backs against the wall defending we brought him on.
New season, new style of play. Deal with it.
Ask Saliba who he’d prefer next to him during the new season ? Possibly ask Saka if he’d prefer Ben White behind him or Partey ? Had Saliba not been injured we’d have won that league so I’d rather deal with that to be fair ! Thanks for the insight thought I feel happier now
Partey doesn’t play behind Saka going forward, he plays in the midfield.
Saliba doesn’t have anyone ‘next to him’ he plays alone in middle and White / Tommy are far more suited to playing as ‘wide’ centre backs in a three than Gabriel.
Watch the game properly and understand what we are trying to do tactically and that it is different to last season before making stupid comments.
Thanks Dave ! I now have the perfect template for stupid comments ! Much appreciated & moving forward I shall now use this as a yardstick to improve my UEFA A qualification coaching. You’re so much more talented at this than me ? Maybe I shouldn’t have wasted so much time actually playing/coaching managing football (or soccer if you’d prefer?) rather than honing my IT skills on Football Manager crunching tactic codes ? Anyway thanks for the advice you’re very kind
if you start with an unbalanced team, then if something goes wrong, it takes a lots of subs to straighten it up.
Great team performance and well deserved three points. As usual, the officiating was piss poor. Just the other day in the shield cup final, Rodri (or was it Bernardo Silva?) tugged the shirt of our player. Now this is usually a yellow but of course the ref refuse to give it. Arteta was livid and the ref didn’t miss the opportunity to book him. I just wonder how refs are quick to dish out cards when it’s Arsenal.
Same results against forest and palace as last season (i.e victories) but worryingly looked less convincing victories this time round!!! What is with party at RB, Gabby not in CB and Havertz on the pitch when trossard played a blinder in preseason? Confused.com
Good Win
Kudos to the boys.
It takes so much concentration and discipline playing this formation.
it stifles a lot of the natural impulse and free flowing dynamics of our players.
This tinkering should be reserved for Cup finals.
Not week in, week out.
Hopefully we’re just testing out ways of playing.
Good resilience from the boys..🎉🔥
Let’s not do this next weekend
Thank you
PS: it’s not a coincidence Timber done his ACL and Tomi got a red on that side of the pitch.
Put round peg in round holes pleeeease.
Its absolutely a coincidence
So my three takeways are : 1- I love the fighting spirit of this time. Everyone is so talented and yet so hard working. 2- The ref screwed us again. 3- I’m a bit worried that Arteta is SO brilliant that he forgets about the basics : player craft and expertise for their position. Tomiyasu on the left, Saliba right-sided CB, Partey as a left back… I feel like we were a bit shaky at times of the ball, and players being out of position is probably the cause. But the fact that we can experiment early in the season… Read more »
why not with 3:0 up…
Eze+Ayew= Zaha
In terms of how much annoying they are.
Moral point I was as frustrated as if Zaha was playing for the lot.
Phew! That was close.🙏
shame on us!
this is not premier league level…
The table tells a different story!
On the subject of the performances… I completely agree that we are not at our top level right now, but I’m not at all discouraged. Here are all the things that have changed in this squad compared to our fluid best: Nketiah is giving us some really good minutes, but he doesn’t knit the attack together like Jesus, and doesn’t dovetail well with Martinelli. We will look like a different unit once he is back. Zinchenko is our creative midfielder who gets the team going from the back. His absence in a game like this cannot be overemphasized. Jurrien Timber… Read more »
(Inc Goal)*