Arsenal showed their strength once again with a narrow 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium, a result that keeps Mikel Arteta’s side sitting handsomely at the top of the Premier League table.
It was far from straightforward, but the Gunners’ resilience, discipline and depth shone through as their early title charge continued for a fourth consecutive season. Here are five key takeaways from the win.
Eze scores first Premier League goal for Arsenal
Eberechi Eze finally opened his Premier League account for Arsenal against his former club, firing home from close range just before the break to give the Gunners the lead.
Signed for £60 million from Crystal Palace in the summer, the England international had previously scored twice for his country and netted once for Arsenal in the League Cup against Port Vale, but this was his first league goal in red and white. It was a confident finish and a moment that will no doubt boost his momentum.
Defensive masterclass once again
Even with William Saliba withdrawn at half-time, Arsenal’s defence stood firm. Cristhian Mosquera stepped in with maturity beyond his years, helping Gabriel Magalhães marshal the back line to another clean sheet.
Crystal Palace worked hard to find openings, with Marc Guéhi, Ismaïla Sarr and Adam Wharton all looking lively in the first half. Yet Arsenal’s organisation and discipline ensured those threats came to nothing as they protected David Raya’s goal with real authority.
Gyökeres’ Premier League goal drought continues
Despite scoring twice in the midweek 4-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid, Viktor Gyökeres is still searching for his Premier League scoring touch. The Swedish striker, who joined Arsenal from Sporting CP for £64 million, has not scored in the league since the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in mid-September.
He came close against Palace, narrowly missing a header from inside the box, but his all-round play and pressing continue to benefit the team.
David Raya extends his clean sheet run
David Raya’s fine form continued as he secured his sixth Premier League clean sheet of the season. The Spaniard, who recently signed a new deal keeping him at the club until 2028, remains top of the goalkeeper charts, with his calm distribution and reflex saves once again proving vital.
Trossard continues to drive Arsenal forward
Leandro Trossard has rediscovered his spark in recent weeks and delivered another energetic display. The Belgian came close to opening the scoring on the half-hour mark, denied by Dean Henderson, but continued to stretch the Palace defence and press with intent throughout.
It was another strong team performance from Arteta’s side, who once again showed that even without their full complement, they can find ways to win.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Liam Harding
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Arsenal were really smart enough by not commiting too much to attacking football because palace were set up for counter attack football in that match.
every team in the PL can hurt you in transition, but still
we kept giving the ball away in dangerous areas. Saka
was anonoumus .Ethan would have been a threat..
Really good goal from Eze on the half volley, but not from close range as Liam said, but more like 16 yards.
Arsenal has become extremely dangerous from set pieces, partly due to the work of Jover, I have noticed multiple tactics, such as targeting the near post for rebounds, playing to the far post for a cut back and the Big Brazilian powerful and unstoppable runs from the edge of the box.
Sometimes you can see the panics chipping on opponents , as the former West Ham man slowly walks over to spot the ball.
This just have the feelings of the Arsenal juggernaut just keeps rumbling on.
Still unconvinced by Gyokeres. A work horse yes, but so slow. I still haven’t seen him beat his marker. A faster player like Aubayang would have left his markers for dead on a couple of occassions today. I’ll allow that he is still settling in but at the same time I’m waiting for the return of Hartvetz ( there I’ve said it) ,who will provide more mobility . Outside of that , it’s grand to be sitting at the top. No reason why we can’t stay there for the long run.
Aubameyang was definitely pacier and more technical, but Gyokeres is stronger
Havertz or Jesus would likely bench Gyokeres once they become fit to play, if the Swedish still can’t outpace, outmuscle and outjump EPL CBs by then
Imagine if we signed a stronger CF with more dominant hold-up play as Mateta and Haaland do. We might not rely on set-piece too much to open up the opposition’s defense
Arsenal could’ve gotten a bigger CF like Woltemade, Sesko or Aghehowa, if they were willing to spend a bit more money
This why Arteta wanted sesko over gyokeres since he’s more faster but Berta preferred gyokeres over sesko and sesko’s struggles at united underline just how tough the EPL is for center forwards but I believe gyokeres being the battering ram he’s and being a work horse is definitely helping arsenal especially defensively
Havertz and Jesus almost there
Best squad we have ever had
Another solid win built on a miserly defense. George Graham will be watching with wry smile -” 1-0 to the Arsenal”.
Crystal Palace have a strong team, who sit deep and counter. They have had some excellent results this season.
This season every opposition club has put players behind the ball against Arsenal, thus making goals from open play difficult to score. Set pieces are an important weapon in any team’s “arsenal” and have made the difference between a win and the draws (and corresponding dropped points), which plagued Arsenal in previous seasons.
Special heads up to Gabriel, who is a critical component for the team at both ends of the park and an excellent “technical” finish from Eze. Let’s keep leading from the front and having teams beaten before they take the field through Arsenal’s strength, power, speed, discipline and commitment.
Our issue with scoring from open-play is due to lack of creativity. We can blame low-blocks as much as we want, but take a look at Manure, City, Spurs and Pool and their stats scoring from open. Teams will play low block against them as well, are they scoring from open play?
Saka is our most creative player with 1,9 key passes per match, followed by Rice at 1,8. Madueke is at 1,6 and Timber at 1,3. Eze and Ödegaard are at terrible 0,5 along with both of our left wingers.
This need improving. You can’t expect chances or shots when you’re not creating. Last season Eze was at 1,7, Öde at 2,1. We need more creative spark, and I’m saying this now when we’re at top because we can’t be complacent and ever need to be improving because other teams WILL ADAPT to us as well.
You aren’t allowed to point this out, half the fans on here will turn around and say you are complaining about scoring from set pieces!
Having foresight and calling out potential future issues that may cost us the league is a big no no!
While I’m happy with the teams win today against a tricky opponent, I’m starting to get irritated at the teams lack of open play goals.
While set-pieces have there place, and a goals a goal after all. to me it just shows the lack of creativity at the moment.
Looking at the stats shown on Match of the Day last night our record reads.
Corners: 7 goals 1st Free-kicks: 2 goals 1st Penalties ; 2 goals 1st. But the telling one for me, Open play: 5 goals 15th.
This needs to improve, because I can’t see us winning the League if our goals are going to come predominantly from set-pieces.
Also the lack of service to Gyokeres is starting to concern me. Yes a lot of the work he does is benefitting the team, but as a striker his main job is to score. And any striker worth his salt knows this. And not scoring will affect said striker, he may be happy doing other things. But he will want to score more, and the team need to start helping him in this direction.
But another good win, all the same. Just to add, that 5 players now have issues from that game. It’ll be interesting to see what side Arteta puts out against Brighton in the League Cup game this week.