Not an Arsenal game goes by that doesn't involve some sort of drama. Is it sloppy defending? Is it VAR? In today's edition, our captain reacted poorly to a rather hostile environment, unfortunately not something we haven't seen before....
The doom and gloom didn't come until later and we actually started very brightly! There was an intent and two dangerous corners lead to two goals in the first 10 minutes. The first corner wasn't dealt with convincingly by Hennessey in the palace goal. After a bit of head tennis, Xhaka smartly nodded the ball into Sokratis's path to bounce the ball into the ground and into the back of the net.
The second corner was a little more routine. Pepe put in another good delivery, Lacazette flicked the ball on and Luiz found himself with all the time in the world to toe poke the ball home unchallenged from 2 yards out. In the words of Martin Tyler from 2014 ''The defenders are doing the job, andArsenal Palace have got no defence against them!''
Little else happened throughout the rest of the half, Arsenal struggled to create openings from open play but Palace found themselves a route back to goal with a big helping from VAR. Chambers left out a very lazy leg as Zaha went past him. Initially Atkinson booked Zaha for the dive but VAR rightfully overturned the decision and awarded Palace the penalty. Up stepped Milivojevic to duly convert the penalty and send Leno the wrong way in the process.
Into the second half and the message *should* have been clear and obvious (Pun intended): Start the second half as we did the first, playing with intent and restore the 2 goal cushion. What happened in reality was Palace equalised after taking advantage of slopping defending (I'm sure I've said this before) within 7 minutes of the re-start. McArthur was being marshalled towards the byline by Xhaka but he just managed to clip a cross into the box. Luiz was unaware of Ayew's positioning, allowing him to peel off the back of him and nod in a free header from 3 yards out. Could Xhaka have done better to block the cross? Perhaps. Should Luiz have known where Ayew is and win the header first? Absolutely.
The rest of the half was certainly not without incident, not if Xhaka and VAR could have anything to do about it. The xhaka incident is better described in Joe's article, but in terms of gameplay VAR definitely took centre stage. Again from a Pepe corner, the ball comes across and breaks loose to Chambers. He and a Palace player fall over as they battle for the ball and it falls to Sokratis who lavishes the ball into the goal. For reasons unknown to everyone except VAR, the goal is ruled out however and so ends the game 2-2.
Ratings:
Emery - 5
In my opinion, there are 2 ways in which Emery can be judged on a match day. In his team selection, and then how he tells that team to play. When the teams were released, I think he got it almost as right as he maybe could have done. Most people will advocate for Torreira to replace Xhaka in the side but seeing Tierney make his debut was an unexpected treat.
I do take issue with the way his team was set out to play. 3 central midfieders were deployed but the shape appeared to be a 4-4-2 with Ceballos shunted to the left side. Ceballos I felt had one of his better games whilst playing that side rather ironically, however the decision to play him there was baffling to say the least and felt a shoe horn move in order to have Auba and Laca both playing through the middle. Creativity was again lacking as our only real threat was through set pieces and we stopped going forward once 2 goals up, even after Palace halved the deficit. Some fight was there once they equalised but nothing materialised for all the huffing and puffing.
Leno - 6
Penalties are always going to be in the strikers favour and he came close to stopping Ayews header but there was little chance of Ayew missing a tap in from 3 yards. Otherwise handled himself well enough.
Chambers - 4
Poor penalty to concede which felt like a carbon copy of the one given away by Xhaka in the reverse fixture last season. Struggled up against Zaha and offered little going forward. I feel sympathy for a player who isn't a right back and is a makeshift replacement but not his best day.
Sokratis - 7 (MOTM)
Amazingly our biggest goal threat and took both of his goals well, whether they counted or didn't. Defensively solid as well and did his job well overall.
Luiz - 5
Found himself in the right place at the right time to convert his goal, but was at fault going the other way. Unlucky to have not scored late on forcing Hennessey into a good save, but was maybe better off moving it on just once more to Auba or Pepe who had more time, space, and a better angle if he was aware of the option.
Tierney - 6
Refreshing ability to cross the ball into the box and offer a different threat going forward. Held up well defensively against Townsend who on his day can be a tricky customer. Solid premier league debut.
Xhaka - 6.5 (3)
In terms of his playing ability he didn't play poorly for sure. Very smart header to set Sokratis up for his goal and was much improved defensively. However very poor attitude during his substitution that knocks the rating.
Guendouzi - 6
Wasn't able to drive forward as much as he is usually able to with the exception of the run to set up Luiz's late chance, seems to still struggle with the killer final pass and a part of his game he could work on.
Ceballos - 6
Played well enough from the left hand side and tried to make things happen. Performance dropped off when moved into the middle and had to cover larger distances which isn't his game.
Pepe - 7
Was the biggest goal threat from open play and his set piece deliveries caused Palace a lot of problems.
Aubameyang - 5
Very quiet game, again likely because he was given little to no service. Difficult for an end product player to get into the game when not given the opportunity to find that end product.
Lacazette - 6
His hold up play was impressive for a player recently returning from injury and was a good flick on from the corner for the second goal.
Saka - 6
Struggled to influence the game when he came on and was unusually quiet.
Kolasinac - 6
Difficult to rate on a 15 minute cameo, can't give him anything more or less than a neutral score.
The second corner was a little more routine. Pepe put in another good delivery, Lacazette flicked the ball on and Luiz found himself with all the time in the world to toe poke the ball home unchallenged from 2 yards out. In the words of Martin Tyler from 2014 ''The defenders are doing the job, and
Little else happened throughout the rest of the half, Arsenal struggled to create openings from open play but Palace found themselves a route back to goal with a big helping from VAR. Chambers left out a very lazy leg as Zaha went past him. Initially Atkinson booked Zaha for the dive but VAR rightfully overturned the decision and awarded Palace the penalty. Up stepped Milivojevic to duly convert the penalty and send Leno the wrong way in the process.
Into the second half and the message *should* have been clear and obvious (Pun intended): Start the second half as we did the first, playing with intent and restore the 2 goal cushion. What happened in reality was Palace equalised after taking advantage of slopping defending (I'm sure I've said this before) within 7 minutes of the re-start. McArthur was being marshalled towards the byline by Xhaka but he just managed to clip a cross into the box. Luiz was unaware of Ayew's positioning, allowing him to peel off the back of him and nod in a free header from 3 yards out. Could Xhaka have done better to block the cross? Perhaps. Should Luiz have known where Ayew is and win the header first? Absolutely.
The rest of the half was certainly not without incident, not if Xhaka and VAR could have anything to do about it. The xhaka incident is better described in Joe's article, but in terms of gameplay VAR definitely took centre stage. Again from a Pepe corner, the ball comes across and breaks loose to Chambers. He and a Palace player fall over as they battle for the ball and it falls to Sokratis who lavishes the ball into the goal. For reasons unknown to everyone except VAR, the goal is ruled out however and so ends the game 2-2.
Ratings:
Emery - 5
In my opinion, there are 2 ways in which Emery can be judged on a match day. In his team selection, and then how he tells that team to play. When the teams were released, I think he got it almost as right as he maybe could have done. Most people will advocate for Torreira to replace Xhaka in the side but seeing Tierney make his debut was an unexpected treat.
I do take issue with the way his team was set out to play. 3 central midfieders were deployed but the shape appeared to be a 4-4-2 with Ceballos shunted to the left side. Ceballos I felt had one of his better games whilst playing that side rather ironically, however the decision to play him there was baffling to say the least and felt a shoe horn move in order to have Auba and Laca both playing through the middle. Creativity was again lacking as our only real threat was through set pieces and we stopped going forward once 2 goals up, even after Palace halved the deficit. Some fight was there once they equalised but nothing materialised for all the huffing and puffing.
Leno - 6
Penalties are always going to be in the strikers favour and he came close to stopping Ayews header but there was little chance of Ayew missing a tap in from 3 yards. Otherwise handled himself well enough.
Chambers - 4
Poor penalty to concede which felt like a carbon copy of the one given away by Xhaka in the reverse fixture last season. Struggled up against Zaha and offered little going forward. I feel sympathy for a player who isn't a right back and is a makeshift replacement but not his best day.
Sokratis - 7 (MOTM)
Amazingly our biggest goal threat and took both of his goals well, whether they counted or didn't. Defensively solid as well and did his job well overall.
Luiz - 5
Found himself in the right place at the right time to convert his goal, but was at fault going the other way. Unlucky to have not scored late on forcing Hennessey into a good save, but was maybe better off moving it on just once more to Auba or Pepe who had more time, space, and a better angle if he was aware of the option.
Tierney - 6
Refreshing ability to cross the ball into the box and offer a different threat going forward. Held up well defensively against Townsend who on his day can be a tricky customer. Solid premier league debut.
Xhaka - 6.5 (3)
In terms of his playing ability he didn't play poorly for sure. Very smart header to set Sokratis up for his goal and was much improved defensively. However very poor attitude during his substitution that knocks the rating.
Guendouzi - 6
Wasn't able to drive forward as much as he is usually able to with the exception of the run to set up Luiz's late chance, seems to still struggle with the killer final pass and a part of his game he could work on.
Ceballos - 6
Played well enough from the left hand side and tried to make things happen. Performance dropped off when moved into the middle and had to cover larger distances which isn't his game.
Pepe - 7
Was the biggest goal threat from open play and his set piece deliveries caused Palace a lot of problems.
Aubameyang - 5
Very quiet game, again likely because he was given little to no service. Difficult for an end product player to get into the game when not given the opportunity to find that end product.
Lacazette - 6
His hold up play was impressive for a player recently returning from injury and was a good flick on from the corner for the second goal.
Saka - 6
Struggled to influence the game when he came on and was unusually quiet.
Kolasinac - 6
Difficult to rate on a 15 minute cameo, can't give him anything more or less than a neutral score.
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