Result: Arsenal 5 – 0 Crystal Palace
Competition: Premier League
Date: 20 January 2024
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Rice, Havertz, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Jesus
Subs: Ramsdale, Cedric, Walters, Kiwior, Jorginho, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, Martinelli
Arsenal were comfortable winners at home against Crystal Palace, scoring 5 goals against the Eagles.
Despite their slow tempo, Arsenal were 2 goals up in the first half due to laxed set piece defending and an enthusiastic Gabriel who scored both headers.
They picked up the pace in the second half and furthered their lead with goals from Trossard and Martinelli who scored two goals in injury time.
Pre-Match
Arsenal’s return to Premier League action saw the usual suspects at the back, with Zinchenko getting the nod at inverted left back.
Rice anchored a midfield consisting of Havertz and Odegaard while upfront, Jesus spearheaded the formation with Saka on the right and Trossard attacking on the left, replacing the electric Martinelli.
First Half
The Gunners may have had their batteries recharged from their training trip to Dubai but they gave off an air of measured calm instead of manic energy on their return to league action.
The team were patient in building up from the back with Zinchenko controlling the tempo in central midfield and the other three defenders distributing calmly.
Our more measured game meant that Crystal Palace were quite organised by the time the ball reached the final third. Even White picked his moments to drive up the right, prioritising possession over a quick transition.
While the tempo was patient, fans didn’t need to be to wait for the first goal. A simple floated ball found Gabriel at the end of the 6 yard box unchallenged to head in. 1-0 Arsenal
The pace continued to be languid and the attacking moves lacked intensity and fluency. It wasn’t high on action but it didn’t need to be for Arsenal to score their second. Another corner, floated to the far post found an onrushing Gabriel, unchallenged again, to score his second of the day. 2-0 Arsenal though it was later credited to Crystal Palace’s Henderson as an own goal.
Second Half
More pace, more zip in the pass. That must have been the demand the coaches had of the players and Arsenal delivered.
The team found space on the counter and attacked with venom reminiscent of last season. The front five were more direct, leading to more chances and even had a penalty shout for an impeded Saka that was unfairly waived off.
Their efforts came to fruition come the 58th minute with another counter. Raya’s long throw found Jesus who cut through acres of space. He timed his release for Trossard well, who cut past his defender and lashed the ball home with authority. 3-0 Arsenal
The scoreline and ease of play allowed Arteta to bring on fan favourites, Emile Smith-Rowe and Martinelii on 68 minutes to drive the stake even deeper. Arsenal’s number 10 was composed and clean with his touches though it was Martinelli caught the eye with his usual effervescent style.
The winger was a constant menace and drove crosses in. He was also operating noticeably closer to the penalty box rather than his usual touchline position which aided him in the 93rd minute and 95th minute. He found opportunities in the left half spaces both times on the counter and charged in unchallenged and finished expertly into the bottom corner.
All in all, an excellent return to the Premier League and a good reminder to the team themselves that a change in pace can bring more rewards in their title hunt.
Finally we make some quick breaks instead of passing around the back and it pays off. Great result and brilliant performance by Gabriel.
For all the talk I saw of Smith Rowe being a shadow of himself I thought he looked really good out there when he came on. It’s great to see him back and hopefully this is the beginning of much more to come from him.
Exactly. Was one of those who clamored for him to be given more time a couple of weeks ago. You can’t get the best out of a player by giving them 5 – 10 minutes cameo here and there. I feel the same way about Reiss too.
No doubt. Let’s give him a proper run in the team and bench Havertz. Win-win all round.
Havertz was our best midfielder before he came off…
Looked sharp…
Looked better in 20 than Havertz did in 70. ESR plays more similarly to Xhaka than Havertz does in that role.
That last might be true–but the idea that Havertz’ (or Smith Rowe’s) value depends on how closely they resemble Xhaka’s play isn’t the way football works. Neither is a clone of Xhaka; neither is a second-rate copy either.
Havertz is absolutely second-rate. Our midfield is so anemic with him in it.
Nor was Xhaka the gold standard for a left 8, I don’t remember a single person here last summer being particularly frustrated about him leaving and that’s despite him becoming a fan favourite personality wise. Every single one of us wanted an upgrade in that position. You could argue whether we actually managed to do that, the answer to that may well be no, but judging the success of our players in that position now based on how similar they play to Xhaka is a bit absurd. ESR does have many qualities Xhaka didn’t though, so I do think he… Read more »
And then you went and a spoiled it
In that type of game (at home, oppo having 10 men behind the ball from 1st minute) Havertz offers nothing. Absolutely nothing. It must be infuriating for ESR.
I think Havertz does lots of off the ball work that can go unnoticed and unappreciated.He wins lots of second balls and continuously makes decoy runs that create space for his teammates.ESR,on the other hand is more ‘on the ball’ kind of player and does well in situations where he can combine quickly with other players around the edge of the box. It’s great to have both options.
That’s my point…in those type of games our attacking midfielders have to be ‘on the ball- players.
Havertz works hard, but he is terrible on the ball, and against a team packing their box from minute 1, he can’t make those runs in behind which is his main (only ?) attacking threat
I wouldn’t really say Havertz is terrible on the ball. He doesn’t make a large number of passes or difficult passes but keeps possession ticking with simple short passes- perharps that is instruction from the manager? With a touch heavy/volume passing player like Zinchenko on the same side,Havertz doesn’t really need to do the elaborate passing. He also does lots of defensive work in addition to being an outlet aerially.
He gets the ball & immediately, simply tries to give it to the nearest Arsenal player. Doesn’t think about whether that’s the right pass or look up for better options. That’s not possession football, that’s someone who has no belief in himself on the ball.
(obviously he doesn’t do that EVERY time he gets the ball, but certainly most times)
PD,like I alluded to,Havertz plays the simple pass because he’s instructed to do so by the coach(in my opinion). Think it simplifies the game for him because we have to remember Arteta asks him to play this hybrid role where he’s a midfielder and a shadow striker at the same time-the role he plays is different from the Xhaka role.Basically Havertz passing play is a lot like that of a typical striker. Usually they play a simple pass to the nearest player and make runs into the box.
Fair enough. I’m not sure I agree but point taken. Regardless of whether it’s lack of ability or coach instructons though, it’s really costing us. We are getting nowhere near enough out of a player who cost 65m & is more or less a guaranteed starter when fit.
For 65 mill I expect a player to make a difference, works hard but no penetration, safe passes looks scared to try anything out of the ordinary
65 mil for a tippy tappy, goal shy “but does a lot of running off the ball” waste of space.
In a sane world you don’t pay 65 m for the talent of running around a bit, though. Smith-Rowe did more in 20 than Havertz had done in the preceding 70. That this was one of Havertz better performances rather tells its own story.
Agreed, Havertz did okay but ESR looks a more natural fit for the position.
I think the Xhaka comparison in incorrect , the first part I agree though. MA should swallow his pride & focus on realising ESRs full potential rather than trying to prove that Havertz is a WC signing.
Finally we make some quick breaks instead of passing around the back and it pays off. Great result and brilliant performance by Gabriel
Also seemed (just watching highlights) Palace played a really high line second half. Much easier than the low block we’re used to facing game after game
Jesus was poor, Nketia (or Trossard) should start -and that’s saying a lot.
Absolute rubbish.
I do not agree either, BUT (for the record…)
Eddie has 7 Goals/Assists
while Jesus only has 5
while Nketiah also played slightly less minutes in the season
Three of those in one game, against a weak opponent, to be fair.
But on another point, why slag off one Gunner to praise another? same with Havertz/Smith-Rowe. Quality depth is what the team needs. That’s the difference between behind Man City (due to their shifty finances for ages), and Arsenal.
To be truly fair though, Jesus has also played against weak opponents this season, e.g. today, and hasn’t bagged a hat trick, so I don’t think you were being that fair 🙃⚖️
Jesus’ assist for the third goal was sublime.
4 Gabriel goals today and not a single one was Jesus. However I thought GJ did pretty well besides the embrassing dive.
So can Lee Gunner and all of his idiot disciples f*ck off back under their rock now?
COYG !!
Weird how we played better than this against Liverpool, West Ham and Villa but lost those.
That was my thought when we went up 3-0–that we were much better against West Ham. Some of that is that Palace were so poor, but some of it is the famous “fine margins.” On another day, Gabriel’s header glances outside the post, etc.
Well Palace are worse than all those teams tbf. But more importantly, finishing is part of “playing”, so can we really say we played better in those games if our finishing was so much better today? I don’t think so.
Fair point, but I meant ‘playing better’ in terms of energy and precision of our passing and never letting the opposing team settle.
Gabs’ doubles cause Palace trouble. Jesus scoring would’ve been a nice touch. Almost feel bad for them I can’t remember seeing a team completely fall apart so dramatically.
Back to winning way. Hope we can build it up from here.
Henry, is that you?
Those two finishes!
Lends credence to my claim that he is out best finisher (yes, even better than Trossard, imo). He is the one player in the squad I feel would bury a 1-on-1 chance 8 times out of 10.
You’d have thought from the commentary that we scraped 5-0 win and palace were the better team.
Not if you’re with Arseblog!
Just what the doctor ordered.
Nice big win and a clean sheet. We could have scored even more if we didn’t over elaborate in the final third.
Happy for Martinelli.
Gabriel M MOTM
A plan B with some direct pacy football ? I like it !!!
Much better, we also could have moved up a couple of gears. Gabriel is so under rated by the general media but we know we have a beast of a defender!
We won 5-0, palace were very very poor, and the scoreline is deserved on their part. We still lack fluidity in our play though. Everything is still a bit slow. Happy we bagged so many goals and caught up a bit on the goal difference. Im delighted with the result, but Jesus’s performance all be it he got assists, was very disappointing against a really poor side, Rice was off it today as well, both of them lost the ball frequently and against better sides we will be punished. Jorginho had a much much better game than rice when he… Read more »
You just can’t please some people.
That’s just what Jesus said sir.
I said im “DELIGHTED” take time to read my comment lad? Constructive criticism never killed nobody. If we want to win the league we need to improve our fluidty. 100% or else we will see Arsenal losing against the better sides.
I agree with you. We didn’t look good in the first half against a weak as piss palace. Second half was better though. We need to Fix the midfield.
Apart from the assist, I agree, Jesus was very, very poor, to the extent that I was annoyed when he got the ball. I love his pressing from the front, and in the Champions league, he looks a decent player. But is a player with no obvious position. Maybe as an impact sub
Great win. Thanks for Jover for all the work on set pieces, This season we are coming up against low blocks so often, that the packed defences make our best chance to score through those set pieces and today we delivered. It means the opposition needs to come out and play if they want anything from the game. The space this opens up leads our attackers room to do their thing. its not happened a lot recently but today we succeeded in spades Martinelli might work better as a super sub in these kind of games. Come on then the… Read more »
Looked great on the break in the second half. But same issues when in slow build-up mode. The team needs to make sure they mix in those rapid attacks, even if it means that we sometimes quickly turn the ball over to the other team.
I like that smith rowe got to play some minutes. Shows him that he is in the top 15. Of course you’ll get minutes. There’s lots of games.
Tell that to Ramsdale.
*Palace player Elbows an arsenal player*:
Commentator: He’s a big strong lad. He’s expected to physically protect himself from opponents.
*Arsenal player breathes down an opponent’s neck*
Commentator: that’s a booking all day. You can play like that. Good authoritative decision from the ref
Just hope Rice’s hammy and Gabby M’s knee are OK