
Arsenal moved eight points clear of Manchester City this afternoon with a comfortable 4-1 win over increasingly relegation-threatened Palace. As songs heralding Patrick Vieira rang out across North London, I sensed that the Arsenal family is becoming so enveloping and tight that part of the satisfaction from this win came from paying them back the insult to a bona fide Arsenal legend. And talking of bona fide Arsenal legends we were able to welcome four of them onto the pitch at half-time (see above). I’m conscious that these great stars don’t have the resonance they should have with the young supporters who inhabit the Stadium so raucously now but I could never really relate fully to Alex James and Cliff Bastin and David Jack when I was growing up. I have a chat scheduled with Bob Wilson tomorrow and I will be fascinated to learn what the legends thought of this crisp and enterprising performance.
There was no sign of a hangover from the disappointment of Thursday evening. As time goes on I consider it almost a blessing that we have now got the opportunity to focus and while I dislike Citeh intensely I see it as a huge advantage that they are committed on three fronts. Let the Cyborg go on scoring but let’s hope intense Premier League games prove a step too far for them as the season grinds on.
We picked a predictable team. Saliba was missing but his prospects seem relatively good for avoiding a long lay-off whilst I suspect Tomiyasu won’t be seen in an Arsenal shirt again this season. Trossard formed part of the three upfront and Capitola Rob Holding, the ‘bestie‘ of scruzgooner came in at centre back.
Palace hadn’t lost at Arsenal for five seasons, often because Zaha is a major headache to us and in the 10th minute he drove forward to fire in a near post shot which struck the post rebounded onto the diving Ramsdale’s legs and then, rather fortunately, deflected past his post. Ramsdale then made a very brave save to block a Palace breakaway for the move to be ruled offside. The ‘keeper could have been seriously injured for no reason as a result of this ridiculous rule which allows play to unwind when officials know it is to be ruled offside.
After this we started to dominate but just after the first quarter had passed I remarked to my neighbour that we had not forced their young keeper to make a save. Seconds later he didn’t save again but this was because Martinelli had latched onto a Saka pass and belted it into the far corner
28 mins: Arsenal 1 Palace 0
We were clearly dominating play now with Ødegaard playing brilliantly in the number 10 role, Saka shredding Mitchell, a top young full-back, every time he got near him and Ben White catching the eye with superb overlaps. I love watching this team with its complexity, intelligence and athleticism. They are so hard to contain and Palace just couldn’t do it.
Two minutes from halftime the enterprising White fed Saka and he drove it into the far corner for our second goal which survived a VAR check
43 mins: Arsenal 2 Palace 0
Half-time was reached shortly afterwards. One sensed Palace were extremely frazzled by the movement of the Arsenal front three and welcomed the break during which our legends entered the arena.
Half-time: Arsenal 2 Palace 0
I didn’t envy Paddy McCarthy’s job (was he the guy Val Doonican sang about with the goat?) trying to lift a team that had not won all year and who had been trying to halt a tidal wave of attacks. Xhaka had gone down with what seemed momentarily to be a serious knock but the man is made of Granit and is again getting forward more as he did earlier in the season. Ten minutes into the second half he scored our third latching on to an intelligent Trossard pass (his sixth assist since he signed) and bumping the ball past the keeper
55 mins: Arsenal 3 Palace 0
The destination of the points was no longer in doubt but we did start to harbour some fantasies about a serious hike in our goal difference. Alas, the next goal went to Palace. Our set-piece coach might need a friendly word with Mr. Arteta as we conceded from a ‘bog standard’ left wing corner which hit Schlupp in the midriff and fell for him to knock the ball beyond Ramsdale. This passed a VAR inspection for handball.
63 minutes: Arsenal 3 Palace 1
Zaha, who had forced a good save from Ramsdale early in the second half, then might have done better when well-placed, as he screwed the ball wide of the right-hand post. He is a player who always makes an impact when he plays against us. If he did this every time he played and if he were eight years younger he would be a no-brainer free signing but he also seems often to be afflicted with a weird form of labyrinthiitis which renders him incapable of staying on his feet when challenged.
Arsenal continued as they began and among a rash of substitutions, Tierney took up the left-back berth and cut the ball back to Saka who lashed the ball home to make the points completely safe. Again VAR reared its ugly head but the goal was ruled onside .
77 mins: Arsenal 4 Palace 1
Arsenal played out the rest of the game comfortably with Jesús getting more minutes and rather oddly Partey ending the game at right back, Kiwior came on for his league debut and twice we saw Arsenal defenders show exceptional pace to thwart Palace attacks firstly Tierney and then Kiwior. We have a big squad but we really don’t want to see Ben White getting injured.
Final score: Arsenal 4 Palace 1
It’s almost surreal to find ourselves so far ahead at the top of the table playing such incisive and intelligent football. In our last four league games we’ve scored fourteen goals and conceded three. We now await what the interlull may bring and prepare to resume in just under a fortnight with Liverpool travelling to the Etihad and a few hours later us welcoming Leeds to the Home of Football. Heady times and evidence today that there is a thread of excellence that has run intermittently through the club over the last fifty years. Please may another special chapter be about to be written