Huge win for us today! Many will think "well if we don't beat fucking Crystal Palace, who will we beat?" but to Palace's credit they put in a very good performance and made it extremely tough for us today. If it wasn't for Szczesny, the scoreline could have looked much different.
We struggled for big periods of the first half. Palace were very organized at the back and we were having a very tough time breaking them down. Except for an early header from Giroud and a strong Ramsey shot that was blocked, we didn't create too many chances. On top of that, our passing was a bit sloppy and we weren't passing the ball around freely. On the other end Crystal Palace weren't shy to shoot the ball and Bannan missed a great chance, just curling his shot wide.
The second half couldn't have started any better for us: Gnarby made a great move in the penalty area and was brought down. Arteta took a great penalty and we were up in front. We really needed that goal to change the flow of the game and calm us down a bit. Unfortunately and inexplicable if you ask me, 20 minutes later, we had a corner kick and Arteta was one of only two players back in our half of the pitch. In contrast Palace had 3 players charging towards our side of the field and when Chamakh got the ball and Arteta brought him down, shit got real with a red card for the Spaniard. After the red card there were 10 minutes where we were fortunate not to get scored on with Ward hitting the crossbar and then Szczesny coming up with a phenomenal save from Jedinak's shot.
But to be honest, after we weathered the storm, we played much better with 10 men than we did with 11. It's true that Palace had to go forward and that opened up space for us, but we were passing the ball so much better and eventually got a second goal from Giroud after an unbelievable pass from Ramsey.
Winning today was vital for us if we want to stay in contention for the title. The tough matches are coming up and we needed to have all the points that we can get before we go into that tough stretch of fixtures. Not long ago we would have folded and probably tied or lost in a game like today's, but we showed some big balls and desire to close out the game!
Notes:
The defense looks shaky which is not good considering Suarez and Co are coming to town next week. The diving Uruguayan is in great form (scoring a hat-trick today) and we will need to be rock solid at the back to keep him and Sturridge at bay.
Ozil really needs to improve physically so he can be even more dominant in this league. In the first half he was getting pushed around constantly and it affected his passing. He was much better in the second half, but was running out of gas towards the end.
Cazorla is still struggling to find his form. Showed flashes of his abilities at times today, but a lot of his first touches were off, also missed a lot of passes. We need him to find his form soon, because he can be deadly when he is playing well.
Flamini hobbled off early with what looked like a groin strain, we need him back ASAP because only him and Arteta are playing like true defensive midfielders for us.
Wilshere really livened things up after he came on as a sub, same could be said for Monreal who made some great runs going forward.
I would like to see a lot of changes for the Capital One Cup game against Chelsea. Guys like Vermaelen, Bendtner, Rosicky, Monreal, Gnarby, should be starting. We have good enough players who are not playing regularly, to play and get a result against Chelsea.
Big games coming up, let's hope the team can keep rolling. C'mon You Gunners!!!
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