Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal - Five Talking Points

Arsenal got their season up and running after opening day disappointment as they edge past a spirited Crystal Palace side 1-2 at the Selhurst Park. Olivier Giroud opened his and Arsenal’s account for the season with a stunning volley as Palace matched them for the spectacular with Joel Ward smashing the ball past Petr Cech to put the tie into the balance.Alexis Sanchez once again stole the limelight with his leaping header inducing an own-goal from Damien Delaney. It was an exciting game with both the sides playing an entertaining brand of football.Here are the five talking points from the game.

#5 Arsenal regain their firepower

Arsene Wenger’s boys at Emirates last week looked a far cry from the team that strolled past everyone in the preseason. But that’s preseason. After facing flak from all quarters over the week, the north Londoners returned to their groove with a convincing performance in yet another London derby at Selhurst Park.

The attacking trio of Ramsey, Ozil and Alexis looked at their fluid best as they split open the Palace defense at will throughout the game. Olivier Giroud played his part by scoring a goal but one thing that brought Arsenal into normalcy was the performance of Santi Cazorla. The little Spaniard ran the show with his passing from deep and was instrumental in Arsenal’s emphatic display in south London.

The Gunners harried their hosts as they made them chase shadows for majority of the first half. The fluidity in the attack is slowly returning in their buildup play. They are still a far cry from their vintage performances but the signs of revival post the opening day disaster are slowly starting to stamp themselves.

#4 The Eagles have wings of fire

Crystal Palace must be kicking themselves for playing the tie into Arsenal’s hands by matching them stride for stride especially in the opening stages of the game. There were no major negatives that can be pointed out in their display today but there was one major positive even in this defeat. The fiery wingers that Alan Pardew has at his disposal can be the game-changers for the south London club.

Wilfred Zaha and Jason Puncheon had a decent game where they kept Arsenal fullbacks in check and also put in a shift by helping out their defenses. Yannick Bolasie, too had a good game but his unwillingness to help out his fullback led to his untimely removal at the half time.

Zaha was by far the pick of the bunch as he gave a torrid time to the Arsenal defence with his pace, trickery and some pinpoint crossing. It seems the ghosts of Old Trafford nightmare are starting subside as the Palace academy graduate is finally finding his feet in Premier League.

The Eagles can dare to dream of having a high flying season especially after the performances of their wingers. Add the guile of Yohan Cabaye in midfield and good centre forward and Palace are on course to a top 8 finish.

#3 Same old story

Refereeing has always been contentious in Premier League. There have always been some or the other major howlers made by the guardians of the game which hits the headlines. Today, Lee Mason has surely done enough to grab himself a decent spot on the backpages of tomorrow’s newspapers.

His indecisiveness and partisan attitude marred this exciting tie. One of his major mistakes of the match was to allow Francois Coquelin play on after two bookable offenses. The Frenchman was already on a yellow card and he was granted two lifelines before Monsieur Wenger decided to take him off for the good. But what irked one and all was his decision to book James MacArthur for an offense which wasn’t even half as grave as the Arsenal man.

The Lancashire man had got key decisions in this game wrong. It would’ve been a different story had Arsenal been down to 10 men inside first 45 mins.

#2 Ozil getting into his groove

Mesut Ozil hasn’t had a splendid season in the Premier League since he made his move to the isles three seasons ago. The German has always been subject to scrutiny and also wholesale criticism. Many pundits and fans have labeled him as a flop for underachieving week in week out.

This season it seems like a different story for the Arsenal’s record signing. He has had a decent preseason and also was competent against West Ham last week. Today he got his game a notch higher by laying the Crystal Palace defense to the sword. One reason for his remarkable performance today was the amount of space he enjoyed between the Eagles’ midfield and defense. He made optimal use of that space by spraying quite a few exquisite passes as one of them led to Olivier Giroud’s opening goal.

It remains to be seen how the former Real Madrid man fares against the teams who play with tighter defensive organization, where he won’t have the acres of space to pull the strings. It is undeniable that the Arsenal playmaker is looking sharp and may well have his breakthrough season come May.

#1 Alexis returns with a bang

Alexis Sanchez had a fairytale debut season as he took the England’s premier division by storm with his exceptional pace and flair. For his national side, he had a successful Copa America as he led Chile to glory on home soil. And this season too, the Chilean has made an instant impact for his club.

Arsene Wenger stated that his mercurial playmaker isn’t 100% match fit and needs time to recuperate after a grueling close season. Despite all the drama, he has announced himself with a bang by making a successful beginning to the new season. Today, he was at the heart of some of the best moves of the game and came close to scoring as well. And he did influence a goal as he forced Palace captain Damien Delaney to poke the ball into his own net.

Alexis’ presence gives much-needed verve to this glossy Arsenal attack. Without him, they struggled last season. The story continued this season as well when the Gunners looked unremarkable in his absence for their season-opener against West Ham. One thing is clear, if Arsenal wish to enjoy success this season, they’ll need their talismanic playmaker to be in top shape for large swathes of the season.