A very relieving win over our upstart London rivals, with an excellent opening goal from Olivier Giroud and a fantastic leap from Sanchez to seal the points. It was far from an easy win but at least we got the three points….
Peter Cech – 7
Not too much to do, and had very little chance of saving the goal. Maybe he’ll get his first clean sheet next Monday?
Bellerin – 7
A little rusty on his return, but contributed to the attacks more than made the defence look solid.
Koscielny – 6
Our defence looked very shaky especially in the first half. I had to mark him down after his pirouette when he should have been blocking Wards shot.
Mertesacker – 6.5
His height was needed against the big lads of Palace, but overall he looked more nervous than usual although he lumped it upfield when needed.
Monreal – 7.5
Nacho is certainly gaining a reputation for being consistently good in attack and defence. Has made the position his own…
Coquelin – 5
Needs to learn the meaning of patience. Obviously didn’t like being passed so often by the Palace attack and was very lucky not to get sent off. VERY lucky…
Cazorla – 8.5
Virtually undroppable. Pops up all over the pitch invariably with the ball at his feet. Brilliant.
Ozil – 7.5
Nice little flicks and touches but his lethargic style still stops me from praising him too much
Ramsey – 6
Lots of energy as always but little end product. Needs to learn from Cazorla…
Sanchez – 7
Good mark simply for his excellent jump to win the points, but many missed chances showed that he still needs rest and time to work on his technical side. Needs to charge both batteries…
Giroud – 7
Great goal but his strength didn’t seem to have so much effect against an organized Palace defence.
SUBS
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7
Always looks dangerous nowadays. Why only half an hour on the pitch?
Arteta – 7
Nice return after long layoff. Made Coquelin look like a headless chicken but that wasn’t hard…
Gibbs – n/a
Tactical substitution. That is his destined role this season…