Match Report: Crystal Palace vs Arsenal
- Aug 17, 2015
- 2 min read
A scrappy Arsenal have bounced back from their opening day defeat to West Ham with a 2-1 away win over a resilient Crystal Palace team. Olivier Giroud opened the Gunners account in the 16th minute after a well placed cross from a much-improved Mesut Ozil connected with a wonderful volley from the Frenchman. Just before the break, Joel Ward equalised for the Eagles, reinvirgorating the team as they came out for the second half. Connor Wickham came closest when he struck the post midway through the second term before Alexis Sanchez headed the ball into the path of Damien Delaney who turned the ball into his own net.
It was immediately obvious that Arsenal were out to prove a point after their less-than-memorable start to the 2015/16 campaign. Many chances fell to both Sanchez and Ramsey before Olivier Giroud opened the scoring. At one point, Sanchez dispossessed Palace defender Joel Ward inside his own half and had his sights set on goal before having his shot blocked by the desperate Palace defensive line. The hunger was there from the start but Crystal Palace didn't back down after conceding the opening goal.
Joel Ward's goal just before the close of the first half mirrored that of Zarate's goal last week for West Ham. While Cech certainly did better to position himself, Laurent Koscielny once again refused to rush the player shooting the ball. Rather he opted to stand still and block half the goal; unfortunately it was also the half that Cech was covering. While the shot was inch-perfect and near unstoppable, a keeper with the experience of Cech should be able to recognise his own defenders positioning and adjust accordingly.
This isn't to say that Cech was once again sub-par, if anything quite the opposite. It soon became clear as to why he's still regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, but I feel like he's missing the vocal intensity that Szezceny possessed. Watching him make save after save without blowing up at his defence seems incredibly odd, and while he's never been the loudest goalkeeper, he had always been somewhat vocal with the Chelsea defensive line. After conceding a corner to Palace, Cech quietly took his place inside the goal mouth and wasn't commanding his defence at all; man-marking and defensive assignments should already be worked out prior to the game but some players need reminding in the form of verbal abuse.
Finally, credit must be given to Aaron Ramsey who was a stand-out player following a quiet performance last week on the right wing. This time Ramsey came further infield and displayed his passing ability to a much greater effect. Similarly Mesut Ozil had a head-turning performance, completing 98% of his passes throughout the game. One quarter of those were in the final third of the pitch for Arsenal.
P.S
Manchester City 3-0 Chelsea
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