Palace 0-2 Arsenal: Player ratings in full as 10-man Gunners pass Eagles to death

Mikel Arteta went from hero to villain for Arsenal against Crystal Palace today, opening the scoring from the penalty spot before seeing red for a challenge on former Gunner Marouane Chamakh. A late goal from Olivier Giroud added gloss to the scoreline, as Arsenal made hard work of beating a stubborn Palace side. Here are our performance score ratings for both sides.

Crystal Palace

Julian Speroni (-27.44)

The player with the dubious honour of being them man with the lowest performance score. The Argentine could do little about either of the goals he conceded, but had little to do beyond picking the ball out of the net. Testament to the performance of the defence in front of him, Speroni only had two saves to make alongside the goals conceded.

Joel Ward (3.82)

Defensively sound, Ward made two tackles and seven clearances for his side – 100% of those that he attempted. He also contributed at the other end, attacking more than his counterpart at left back Dean Moxey.

Daniel Gabbidon (31.81)

Gabbison was one of Palace’s better performers, as the South London side succesfully restricted Arsenal to few oppurtunities. Gabbidon made seven clearances – tied with Joel Ward as the most of any Palace player.

Damien Delaney (30.83)

A rock alongside Gabbidon, Delaney made nine interceptions for the Eagles. Seven of those came in a first half in which the managerless Eagles were camped in their own box amidst wave after wave of Arsenal attacks.

Dean Moxey (-14.03)

The only member of the Palace back four to receive a negative score, Moxey made the fewest defensive actions of the Palace defence. The left back struggled to get to grips with the Arsenal midfield, and was victim of a string of attacks down his side, as shown by the Arsenal action areas map below.

Kagisho Dikgacoi (8.09)

Tidy in possession, with an 87% accuracy, Dikgacoi was eclipsed by his midfield partner Jedinak in terms of performance score. A solid if unspectacular performance from the South African

Mile Jedinak (42.42)

Palace’s highest scoring player by performance score, Jedinak was involved at both ends of the pitch. Imperious in defence, with four tackles, four headers and three interceptions, Jedinak was also a key man going forward. The Australian international’s pass map below shows his importance to Palace, with two key passes and a number of successful long balls forward.

Adlène Guédioura (-13.96)

One of Palace’s worse performers, Guedioura did little of note. His four fouls included two soft challenges on Mikel Arteta, and a ridiculous challenge to give away Arsenal’s penalty. Going forward he was anonymous, bar a shot that would definitely fall in the speculative category.

Barry Bannan (16.03)

Recalled to the side by caretaker boss Keith Millen, the Scot produced an industrious performance. He attempted five crosses and two shots, as well as completing his only attempted take on.

Jerome Thomas (-0.17)

Pretty anonymous, it was no surprise to see Thomas make way for Bolasie early in the second half.

Marouane Chamakh (-9.56)

The former Arsenal striker cut a lone foray up front in the first half, before Palace came back in to the game in the second half. The Moroccan worked hard, but only managed one attempt on goal.

Subs:

Yannick Bolasie (4.31)

Livelier than Thomas, Bolasie’s introduction coincided with the Palace resurgence. Pacey and direct, Bolasie attempted two take ons and two crosses – particularly catching the eye bursting forward with one driving run past two men.

Dwight Gayle (2.44)

Despite only featuring briefly, Gayle’s last minute shot meant that he equalled the shot count managed by Chamahk over the entire game.

Jimmy Kébé (-0.56)

Another late sub, Kebe struggled to get in to the game and did little of note.

Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny (66.34)

The Squawka man of the match, Szczesny kept his team in the game with a string of impressive saves in the second half.

Bacary Sagna (52.21)

Runner up to Szczesny in the man of the match rankings, Sagna was active at both ends of the pitch. He made five clearances, as well as providing width in attacking areas. The heat map below shows the areas he picked up, and he also made two key passes.

Per Mertesacker (41.52)

Mertesacker produced the kind of solid defensive performance that Arsenal fans have started to become accustomed to. He was tidy in possession, and made five clearances alongside three tackles and three interceptions.

Laurent Koscielny (45.86)

Koscielny was almost impeccable in possession, making 95% of his passes. He only misplaced three passes all game, and took until the 54th minute to do so.

Kieran Gibbs (34.97)

A solid game for Gibbs, in which he didn’t have a huge amount to do.

Mathieu Flamini (7.66)

An early injury victim, Flamini was the Squawka man of the match by performance score at the time of his injury.

Aaron Ramsey (23.95)

Capping a good performance with the assist for Arsenal’s second goal, Ramsey contributed 81 passes as the Gunners dominated possession.

Mikel Arteta (23.15)

Arteta endured a mixed afternoon in South London. Having put the Gunners ahead from the spot, and made 63 passes in his 65 minutes on the pitch, Arteta went from hero to villain with a red card. His performance score reflects his impressive early performance, and the Arsenal captain could feel somewhat aggrieved with the red card received for a tussle with Chamahk.

Santiago Cazorla (7.63)

A victim of a resolute Palace defence, Cazorla had little impact on the game. He did attempt to provide the creativity, making two successful take ons, but was often stifled by Palace’s stubborn defensive effort.

Mesut Özil (-0.41)

The only Arsenal player to receive a negative performance score, Ozil experienced a distinctly average afternoon by his own high standards.

Olivier Giroud (13.55)

Giroud should have done better with an earlier headed chance, but made no mistake with his second header – producing the goal that sealed the victory for Arsenal and put Palace’s challenge to bed. Today’s goal was the Frenchman’s fifth league goal of the season.

Subs:

Serge Gnabry (12.23)

The young German came on as a substitute for Flamini, before suffering the ignominy of then being subbed off himself. Gnabry endured a difficult afternoon as he struggled to isolate and take on any members of a resolute Palace defence.

Nacho Monreal (3)

The Spaniard completed two out of two take ons, as well as producing one key pass in a 19 minute run out on the left of midfield.

Jack Wilshere (14.01)

Bolstering the midfield in the absence of Arteta, Wilshere helped the side to close the game out in his substitute cameo. He also made 100% of his passes in the time he was on the pitch.