Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Zubimendi, Rice, Eze, Trossard, Saka, Gyokeres
Subs: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Hincapie, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Martinelli
Arsenal extended their lead atop of the Premier League to four points after beating Crystal Palace 1-0 at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, thanks to a first half strike from Eberechi Eze.
Mikel Arteta made two changes to the side that brushed Atletico Madrid aside in midweek, with Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard coming in for Myles Lewis-Skelly and Gabriel Martinelli.
FIRST HALF
It was a slow start from the Gunners who were struggling to break down a well-organised Palace, with a nutmeg from Bukayo Saka garnering the only real cheer after ten minutes.
Arsenal were too static across the pitch with Palace doing well to congest the centre of the pitch, which meant the midfield pairing of Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice couldn’t find their passes through the lines.
After 25 minutes, Arteta’s men failed to register a single attempt at goal, while Palace had threatened in transition with Jean-Philippe Mateta proving difficult to handle and runners tearing forward beyond him.
It took 32 minutes, but Arsenal finally registered a shot on target when Viktor Gyokeres did well to shrug off a defender and sprint in behind, with the ball eventually finding Leandro Trossard who cut inside and fired a shot straight at Dean Henderson.
Things were proving difficult for the Gunners until Yeremy Pino conceded a silly free kick after fouling Saka, with the subsequent delivery from Rice falling to Eberechi Eze on the edge of the box who smacked a scissor-kick into the far corner. 1-0.
It was an instinctive finish from the Englishman who had struggled up until that point, but getting his first league goal against his former club feels right, doesn’t it?
SECOND HALF
Heading into the second half, Arsenal made a change at the break with Cristhian Mosquera replacing William Saliba – although it’s unsure whether this was enforced through injury or tactical with Mateta causing him some problems.
The Gunners should have doubled their lead minutes after the break, when a crazy passage of play saw Gabriel smack the crossbar with a towering back post header (from another set piece) before Rice saw his follow up effort brilliantly saved by Henderson, before Saka fired another fierce strike inches wide from distance.
There was another sight of goal for Trossard after he was played through by Gabriel, but instead of going for goal – he looked for Saka across goal – and his pass was well blocked by the recovering Marc Guehi.
With an hour on the block, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Saka who was well marshalled all game by a combination of various wing backs and midfielders, but it’s likely he wasn’t 100% fit and wasn’t risked further.
It looked like Arsenal had doubled their lead with Gabriel (again!) towering above everybody at the back post after another pinpoint corner from Rice, but he somehow headed wide from close range and took a whack for his troubles after colliding with the post in his special area.
However, Palace did have some moments of their own and one chance was created by Eddie Nketiah who did well to run beyond Mosquera but his attempt to find Mateta was thwarted by the excellent Gabriel.
There were some worrying signs when Rice and Riccardo Calafiori both went down within seconds of each other, with Arteta springing into action and replacing both players with Piero Hincapie for his Premier League debut and Mikel Merino.
It was a nervy last ten minutes for Arsenal who were visibly tiring and had lost some momentum after their changes, with Palace starting to push forward in search of an equaliser without creating anything of note.
Those nerves continued into six minutes of added time but despite some set pieces and hopeful crosses into the box, Raya was never seriously troubled and the full time whistle was met with welcome relief.
This was always going to be a difficult game and Palace really tested Arteta’s men on the day, but they found a way, scored a goal and kept another clean sheet to secure another important three points.
In a weekend where Liverpool and Manchester City both dropped points; one-nil to the Arsenal will not have felt sweeter.
The post Report: Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace (inc. goal) appeared first on Arseblog News – the Arsenal news site.
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