The Gunners were back to winning ways on Sunday, as they picked up their first points of the season with a scrappy 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on the back of an opening day defeat at the Emirates Stadium against West Ham United.
Olivier Giroud got things started with a spectacular scissor kick goal, just before Crystal Palace equalised through another spectacular strike produced by right-back Joel Ward, until an Alexis Sanchez header deflected off Damien Delaney on 55 minutes to make it 2-1 to Arsenal, who ended up taking all 3 points.
So, what did we learn from Sunday’s game? Here are five things…
Alexis looked as sharp as ever
Alexis Sanchez made his first start for the Gunners this campaign after being desperately brought on last week by Arsene Wenger, whose side were chasing a 2 goal lead against West Ham on the opening day of the season.
Against Crystal Palace on Sunday however, instantly Alexis was getting involved and running the show for the Gunners and made his mark early in the game.
When he had the ball at his feet he was always doing something with it, most of the time attacking, running with it, as he weaved in and out of numerous Palace players. It was good to see after his extended break.
In the 7th minute, Palace had a corner that was successfully cleared by Arsenal, who then had Mesut Özil and Alexis on the counter up against only two Palace defenders. Özil had the ball at his feet and played in Alexis who was one on one with the keeper, his shot was blocked and so was his second off the line.
It was easily noticeable that Alexis became frustrated with himself because he hadn’t scored, and that motivated and pushed him to improve on the next chance he gets.
It looks as though he’s picked up where he left off last season, which is good news for Arsenal fans.
Arsenal started the game on top
Complete domination from the Gunners in the first 10-15 minutes shows there’s been a very good reaction from last week’s loss to West Ham. In the first ten minutes, Arsenal had 70% possession compared to Palace’s 30%. The players looked as if they wanted it a lot more, just seconds into the game.
There’s been times in the past few seasons where Arsenal have shown no fight or spirit after a poor result, but today they looked completely different, they took to the field like champions.
It’s crucial that the Gunners go into smaller games with the same mindset, it’s the small games that are important if you want you challenge for the title, points must be picked up wherever they’re available.
Giroud scores goals
Despite being criticised constantly by fans and the media, Olivier Giroud has proved that he doesn’t just score goals when he’s on form.
Giroud has become a regular scorer for Arsenal, netting 14 times in the Premier League last season. If Arsene Wenger was to go out and buy a world-class striker, Giroud would be a very, very good player to bring off the bench, he has a big impact on the game when coming on, is a game changer, and also scores a few as a substitute.
On the other hand, it would be harsh on Giroud, as he has played really well for Arsenal especially over the last two seasons, and has proved his worth after arriving for around £10 million – in fact, he’s done more than just prove his worth.
He’s scored some vital goals in his Arsenal career, rewinding back two seasons ago, when he scored the first of what could have been one of the greatest Champions League comebacks against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, another stand out goal was last season away at Manchester City. He doubled Arsenal’s lead with a second half header, and a good header it was too.
He doesn’t just score ordinary, boring striker goals either, Olivier can definitely strike a ball. He’s been harshly criticised about his mobility, that he isn’t as fast or mobile as some strikers. He proved that didn’t matter on Sunday, with his superb volley.
The Frenchman would be too good to just sit on Arsenal’s bench, making way for a possible new striker coming in, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he left if that was the case, in search of first team football. It would, however, be a real shame and a big loss, because he’s a very good striker, an all-round good footballer and the fans have a love-hate relationship with him.
Özil continues to prove critics wrong
Mesut Özil once again shone for the team in gold today. He was creating chances for Arsenal left, right and centre, and not long after, perfectly floated the ball in the box for Oliver Giroud to connect on to, and fire the Gunners into the lead in some style.
Özil has been constantly put down by the media and fans of football for months and months, because he had a tough first season in north London. He was accused that he wasn’t good enough for the Premier League, that he was lazy, a waste of money, but slowly, he’s proving them all wrong.
Admittedly, he struggled to cope with the physicality of the Premier League at first, but after a long period on the sidelines last season, he made his return against Stoke City and it was like a new signing had walked out onto the pitch. It was very noticeable that he’d been spending most of his time in the gym, as he was double the size he was previous to his injury.
Ever since then, he has been getting better and better, week by week, and can now cope with the physicality much easier, and it’s improving his game massively. He’s starting to really shine for Arsenal now, like the fans expected of him when he joined from Real Madrid for a club-record fee of £42.4m back in 2013.
He’s the perfect player for Arsenal, because his passing and vision is easily the best in the league, if not the world. In the past even José Mourinho described him as the best number 10 in the world, back in his Madrid days, I’m not sure if he’d admit to it now he’s at Arsenal… but what’s said was said.
Positive Partnership of Cazorla and Coquelin continues
There has been a lot of debate and discussion recently as to who should partner Francis Coquelin in that central defensive midfield role, Aaron Ramsey or Santi Cazorla.
Both are capable of playing there alongside the Frenchman, but it’s still undecided what’s best, as it means the other is either going to be benched, or played out wide, an unfavourable position for both.
On Sunday, in was Cazorla, who was played down the middle, with Ramsey starting out wide on the right. It’s fair to say Cazorla had a blinder, and fully deserved his Barclay’s Man of the Match award.
Together, the pair were solid, they rarely lost the ball, and when they, or the team did, they would win it back within seconds. It made a huge difference because it stopped Palace from being able to attack a lot of the time.
It’s a completely different story to last year, as it was that area that cost a lot of games for Arsenal early on in the season, but with Coquelin bursting into the first XI and Cazorla dropping into the more defensive, central role, a great partnership has been formed, and it’s a very strong one at that.
The two of them make a good match, with the Frenchman, Coquelin, being the bigger, more aggressive player who makes the tackles, wins the headers and gets the ball back, whereas the little Spaniard is the more technical player, who can pass the ball very well with great vision, and makes everything tick for Arsenal.
As long as they both stay fit, it would be a huge boost for Arsenal in their hope of bringing the title back to north London.
Arsenal’s next game is at home to Liverpool next Monday night, where the Gunners will be looking to add to their win on Sunday with another, doubling their points, in the tastiest looking fixture so far.
