Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud opened the scoring at Selhurst Park with exquisite volley past Alex McCarthy
Crystal Palace right back Joel Ward levelled the scoreline with low shot from outside the 18-yard box
Eagles defender Damien Delaney put through his own net in the 55th minute to hand Arsenal the three points
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin could have been awarded a second yellow card during the opening half
A vibrant game of two wonderful goals was settled by a clumsy one, sliced into his own net by Damien Delaney.
It seemed such a shame after Olivier Giroud’s fabulous scissor-kick and a crisp 25-yarder from the right boot of Joel Ward.
But once Crystal Palace’s crestfallen captain had hauled himself off the turf, Arsenal produced evidence to support claims that this season they are tough enough to engage in a scrap when required.
It was not apparent when they lost at home to West Ham on the opening day of the campaign, when Arsene Wenger accused them of being both complacent and nervous.MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
- CRYSTAL PALACE (4-2-3-1): McCarthy 6.5; Ward 6, Dann 7, Delaney 6.5, Souare 6.5; Cabaye 6.5, McArthur 7 (Bamford 80mins, 6); Zaha 6.5 (Chung-Yong 76, 6), Puncheon 6.5, Bolasie 5 (Mutch 46, 6); Wickham 6.5
- Subs not used: Hennessey, Mariappa, Jedinak, Murray
- Goal: Ward 28
- Booked: McArthur
- Manager: Pardew 6.5
- ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Cech 6.5; Bellerin 6.5, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 6.5, Monreal 6.5; Coquelin 6.5 (Oxlade-Chamberlain 64, 6), Ramsey 6.5; Sanchez 7 (Arteta 75, 6), Ozil 7.5 (Gibbs 83, 6), Cazorla 7; Giroud 7
- Subs not used: Ospina, Debuchy, Gabriel, Walcott
- Goal: Giroud 16, Delaney OG 55
- Booked: Coquelin
- Referee: Lee Mason
Player ratings by Sami Mokbel
- Attendance: 24,732
But here they knuckled down and fought to protect their advantage against a strong Palace team, one with pace and mobility which will disturb some of the best teams in the months ahead.
For Wenger, all that mattered was the result. He replaced Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez with Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta. He also hauled off Francis Coquelin before he was sent off.
Sanchez and Ozil trudged away unhappily, and it seemed significant that Wenger was ready to sacrifice his two most gifted players as the clock ticked down.
It was a clue to the importance of this result in the context of Arsenal’s season. Last year, a bad start ruled them out of the title race before it had begun. This year had to be different.
Hence Per Merstesacker’s ungainly knee-slide and plea at the feet of referee Lee Mason, who had wrongly awarded Palace a corner in a tense closing spell.
Arsenal remain vulnerable from set-pieces and they know it. As it turned out, Jordan Mutch nodded it over. Then Petr Cech saved from Ward from another corner, before the final whistle brought Wenger relief.
Arsenal can be congratulated on their resilience and their response having stewed for a week on the West Ham defeat.
Sanchez, restored to the team after an extended summer break, added energy and threat and was central to the Delaney own goal, early into the second half.
The Chilean almost struck after just seven minutes, when the visitors broke with clinical precision.
Coquelin and Santi Cazorla combined to find Ozil and he slid Sanchez in on goal.
It was a breath-taking counter-attack but Palace’s recovery defending was equally impressive.
Ward sprinted and slid to block the first effort and then James McArthur was back on his own goal-line to clear when the rebound presented Sanchez with another chance.
Even so, Arsenal were soon ahead when Giroud converted an Ozil cross in spectacular style.
The centre-forward dropped into a pocket of space, adjusted his feet as the ball came his way, took off, twisted in mid-air and hooked the ball past Alex McCarthy with his left boot.
Thierry Henry would have been proud. It was Giroud’s first goal in the Barclays Premier League since early April and his first since Henry claimed Wenger’s team would never with the title with him up front.
Ozil’s early delivery was precisely the type of service on which he thrives, and the German playmaker was alert and hugely influential.
EA SPORTS DISTANCE STATS |
|||
|
|
MINS |
KM |
MILES |
Crystal Palace |
|
108.1
|
67.2
|
|
Yohan Cabaye
|
90
|
10.9
|
6.8
|
|
Jason Puncheon
|
90
|
10.6
|
6.6
|
|
Pape Souare
|
90
|
10.2
|
6.3
|
Arsenal |
|
104.5
|
64.9
|
|
Aaron Ramsey
|
90 | 11.6 | 7.2 |
|
Hector Bellerin
|
90 | 10.7 | 6.6 |
|
Olivier Giroud
|
90 | 10.1 | 6.3 |
Each touch had a little extra silkiness and each pass delivered with more feel and appreciation. He is a delight to watch when in this sort of mood, and he was central to Arsenal’s early dominance.
He drifted left and linked well with Sanchez and Nacho Monreal, and there were times when Ward was overwhelmed but it was the Palace right-back who equalised.
Jason Puncheon’s long angled pass was chested dwon by Yannick Bolasie and eased into Ward’s path by McArthur. Ward met it sweetly, flashing a shot across the turf and in off the far post.
Cech had no chance and the goal injected belief, energising players, supporters and manager Alan Pardew, who was soon remonstrating with the officials about penalties and red cards.
Coquelin bit in midfield as Arsenal repelled the Palace fight-back and was fortunate not to be sent off for a cluster of fouls either side of half-time.
Having just been booked for a mistimed slide on Bolasie, he tripped Wilfried Zaha in midfield. It was not nasty but it was cynical, halting a dangerous counter-attack.
Referee Mason gave him the benefit of the doubt, only to then book McArthur for a very similar offence, when he felled Coquelin.
It was not the only odd call from Mason during this period. He also awarded a foul against Connor Wickham when he was booted in the head by Monreal.
Palace, after seeing Cameron Jerome’s overhead kick disallowed at Norwich, were entitled to feel bewildered.
Coquelin kept snapping into tackles and the home crowd roared for a red card. One on McArthur after the break must have tempted Mason. “The pressure was on,” admitted Wenger, who eventually replaced him with Alex Oxlade-Chamerlain.
Wickham hit a post, soon after the interval, but it was Delaney’s intervention that would prove the most crucial.
Sanchez sprang high above Ward to meet a deep cross from Hector Bellerin and head it firmly back into the goalmouth.
It would probably not have gone in, but for Delaney who, off balance, swung his right foot at the ball but was never in control and his clearance squirted past goalkeeper McCarthy.
Injured goalkeeper Julian Speroni is greeted by a Crystal Palace's mascot as he makes his way to his seat ahead of the match
