The post-match commentary oversold our defensive soundness, I thought. Palace should have had two and could have had more. But between Ramsdale and some poor finishing, we got the clean sheet. The technical levels of both teams were very high. The Gunners especially exhibited some great close control and one-touch passing, but I was impressed by Palace too.
How cool is it that Arsenal, which used to suffer so badly facing corner kicks and free kicks, is feasting on them lately? Arteta revealed to Sky Sports just now that the play on which they scored was devised by a set piece coach and they practiced it yesterday. That's the sort of thing that convinces players to trust the staff.
Everyone played well. I was concerned by the constant testing of our outside backs with long diagonal passes. Their wingers usually came up with the ball. Zinchenko and White were both caught too high up the field at times. But Saliba and Gabriel were fantastic. White will not start in big games after Tomiyasu is fit. But he's a wonderful option in two important positions. Martinelli's goal was fine; Saka was fortunate to have his errant cross turned in for the clincher.
Three points. Top of the league. Feels good.
and we are at the bottom of the league. An own goal is always painful, but defenders under pressure usually make mistakes. Players ratings gave Zinchenko credit for a stellar performance, a sharp 8.1, but I will have to ask my son how they arrive at those stats; It's rocket science to me
ReplyDelete8 is generous for Zinchenko. He participated in the buildups, so he's integrating into the team. Better were Saliba and Gabriel in the middle of our defense, and Jesus up front.
DeleteI thought Palace played pretty well. They moved the ball around and penetrated, and they also flew down the wings for long raking passes. They played good defense--except on the corner we scored from, when they were awful.