Arsenal responded well to their 0-2 defeat at home to West Ham with a strong performance and a 1-2 win against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Olivier Giroud opened the scoring with a wonderful bicycle kick after Mesut Özil found him with a cross, and a Delaney own goal finished the job for The Gunners after Alexis Sanchez fired a header towards the defender.
Question marks still remain over Arsenal’s pressing when their opposition preparing a shot from range, with Joel Ward scoring a similar goal to the one Wenger’s men conceded against West Ham last week. But overall, it is hard to complain about The Gunners’ performance.
Here are my player ratings. Agree? You can rate the players yourself here.
Petr Cech – 6.5
Had little to do all game, with all of Palace’s shots aimed straight at him. Dealt with crosses into his box well.
Hector Bellerin – 7
Bombed forward and provided Arsenal with the width they lost from Ramsey cutting inside. His cross led to Arsenal’s second goal, and his defensive work was very good. Caught out a few times, though.
Per Mertesacker – 7
Looked composed at the back as he patiently passed the ball around in the first half and fired it out of his box in the second. Some sloppy passing in the second half brought his rating down.
Lauren Koscielny – 6.5
Full of pace and energy, which he used to cut out the majority of Palace’s attacks. He was, however, at fault for the goal, as he dived out of the way of a shot from outside of the box – presumably because he was afraid of getting hurt.
Nacho Monreal – 8
Nacho figured out early on in the game that he didn’t have the pace or energy to cope with Palace’s wide man. As a result, the Spaniard produced one of the most intelligent performances I’ve seen from an Arsenal defender in years. Instead of diving into challenges, Monreal kept getting his body between Palace players and the ball – drawing fouls and breaking up play with ease. Arsenal’s best defender on the day.
Francis Coquelin – 8 (Replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 64th minute)
Another strong performance from Francis, especially on the ball. The Frenchman produced some fantastic long passes in the first half to switch play and stretch the opposition. His defensive work was good, but he could have been sent off in the second half after picking up a yellow card in the first. Was eventually subbed off for Chamberlain to avoid such an event.
Santi Cazorla – 8
Passed the ball well, rarely lost possession, and battled hard in the closing stages of the game. A solid midfield performance.
Mesut Özil – 9 – Man of the Match (Replaced by Gibbs in the 83rd minute)
An outstanding performance from the German. His passing was impeccable and his vision exemplary. Got an assist for Arsenal’s first goal with a fantastic cross and created chances for Arsenal throughout the game.
Aaron Ramsey – 6.5
Made a lot of poor decisions in the final third – shooting instead of passing and passing instead of shooting. Improved dramatically when he was moved into the centre, but was shoved back out wide before he could truly shine.
Alexis Sanchez – 7 (Replaced by Arteta in the 75th minute)
Greedy on the ball in the first half, although his driving runs did help to push Palace back. Refused to pass to his teammates and wasted a good chance early on. Improved in the second half, and done well to win a header at the far post which led to Arsenal’s second goal.
Olivier Giroud – 7.5
Scored an early goal of the season contender in the 16th minute with a bicycle kick, and produced some lovely touches and lay-offs all game. A convincing performance from the Frenchman overall.
Subs
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7
Kept running at the Palace defenders to push Arsenal up the pitch in the closing moments of the game. Looked dangerous yet again and nearly scored with a low shot late in the game.
Mikel Arteta – 7
Saved Arsenal from conceding late on with a great challenge on Lee Chung-yong in the box. Helped The Gunners see out the game.
Kieran Gibbs – N/A
Came on in the 83rd minute for Özil. Didn’t see enough of the ball to justify a rating.
You can rate the players yourself here.