Crystal Palace v Arsenal review – Lucky, Clinical, Battling, Victorious

I don´t suppose we should be too surprised anymore, because Arsenal have started doing it a few times this season, but it is not the typr of game that we used to see from the Gunners. You could say that we were lucky, especially as the replays showed that the foul for the penalty that gave us our 7th minute lead was just outside the box.

But it was very close and Danny Welbeck did brilliantly to pounce on the ball and draw the foul. And Cazorla seems to be infallible from the spot these days. However, Crystal Palace gave us a real hard time after that and could have levelled if they had been a bit more clinical.

Fair play to the Gunners though, we did not wilt under the heavy pressure and fought for everything, even though it was Palace that dominated the first half. A brilliant last ditch tackle from Mertesacker was just one of the great bits of defending that kept Arsenal in front.

And then we really stuck the knife in and twisted in first half stoppage time. The excellent Welbeck again caused the problem and his shot was parried into the path of Giroud with the in form French striker gratefully slotting the ball in for our second.

The second half was a real test for us. Palace were really good and had lots of chances, corners and free kicks in good areas and we were lucky that they did not score until stoppage time. Even then they nearly grabbed a point as Murray hit the post with seconds left to play.

But although we were far from our fluent best, I think we did brilliantly to see this very tough game out. It is the sort of match we would have drawn or lost up until we found our new battling qualities and it could prove to be crucial at the end of the season. Now on to Monaco and we should be feeling good about things, especially as Swnsea dfid us a huge favour by beating man ure. Happy days Gooners!