Arsenal played like a real team again without Alexis around, and they had the game won before Nacho Monreal went off after 34 minutes. We couldn’t keep up the momentum without him in the second half but we conserved our energy for the big fight on Wednesday against Chelsea. It feels great to actually win a game at last….
So here are my ratings for Arsenal v Crystal Palace…
Cech 6
Poor Petr has been waiting a long time for his 200th clean sheet. He was back to his best again but couldn’t do anything about Palace’s consolation goal
Bellerin 6
Great going forward but not so good defensively
Koscielny 7
Back to his best and all our defenders looked comfortable
Mustafi 6
Bet he’s glad to have Koss the Boss back. Very little problems to deal with
Monreal 8
Was only on the pitch for half an hour but had grabbed a goal and two assists by then. Is he our best striker!
Wilshere 8
Hopefully Jack and Ozil will have a few years as partners from now. Class act again
Elneny 7
One of his better performances but in his best position
Xhaka 8
At last Arsenal have found someone who can take corners and pass straight. Is he finally coming good?
Ozil 9
Man of the match as usual. Great link uup with Wilshere and a sublime backheel for Lacazette to score
Iwobi 7
A little better than his performances lately and got on the scoresheet
Lacazette 7
Great finish and should have had a penalty (again!) I think he is now ready to play 90 minutes every game
Subs:
Maitland-Niles 7
Not a lot to do after Monreal had put us out of sight, but solid as always from the youngster
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