Arsenal have never lost at Crystal Palace in the Premier League, but today we had to fight a lot harder than usual for the three points. Arsene Wenger was more than happy with our response after last weeks home defeat. “We have shown our strong response and we have shown different aspects in our game that are vital in the Premier League.” he said after the match. “We had a good, fluent game in the first half and when they came back to 1-1 it was a mental test to see how we could respond. We managed to find a second goal and after that in the second half of the game we just had to dig in, fight, and we did it as well. I’m pleased because we have shown many different aspects that will be very important in the season.”
Le Prof also believes that it will be hard for anyone to win at Selhurst Park this season, but he refused to blame Laurent Koscielny for not trying to block the Palace equaliser. “I haven’t seen the goal again but Koscielny had a very strong performance today. Maybe he has turned his back by reflex, I don’t know, but overall I was not happy with the goal.
“On the other hand it was a good test for us because this is a difficult place for everybody to come and to win. I’m sure they will beat many strong teams here and to get the three [points] is already a little bit of a turning point in the Premier League for us. To lose today would have been a big blow mentally.”
It certainly would have been a blow, disastrous even! At least we can all sleep easier in our beds, until at least next week….