Premier League: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace Match Review + Player Ratings

Crystal Palace travelled to the Emirates to play Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The Gunners sat 11th on the Premier League table with 23 points, whilst Crystal Palace were only a point behind in 13th. Surprisingly, Pablo Mari and Kieran Tierney, two of Arsenal’s recent stand outs as stated in ‘5 Gunners to Look Out for in 2021’ (click here), had been rested, replaced by David Luiz and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Encouraging scenes for Arsenal fans however, as star players Gabriel and Partey returned to the bench. Palace sported the same side as their recent league triumph, with the exception of Eze replacing Schlupp.

Within the first 10 to 15 minutes of the game, Arsenal controlled the flow of play. They held possession and completely nullified Palace's attack. The problem, however, was that a sloppy pass to a teammate would lose possession and end the attack nearly every time the Gunners had the ball.

The first real chance of the game fell to Crystal Palace. Zaha receives the ball on the wing. He cuts inside and plays a 1-2 with his fellow attacker, Benteke, allowing him to get in behind. Zaha, looking to shoot on his right foot, takes it past both Rob Holding and Dani Ceballos, before eventually shooting. The attempt was blocked by a great tackle from the nearby Granit Xhaka.

Just over 5 minutes later, Palace again came close when the ball was squared to Christian Benteke. The Belgian failed to stay composed however, skying his shot.

Arsenal soon looked dangerous again as Smith-Rowe picked up the ball on the right wing. He sends in a cross to the waiting Lacazette around 14 yards out, however, a miscommunication saw Bellerin reach for the ball, poking it away from Lacazette and ending the opportunity.

The closest chance of the game fell to Tomkins, who made his 100th start for Palace. Eze crosses in a floating ball from a free kick near the corner of the box. Tomkins, who makes contact at the edge of the 6 yard box, can only turn the ball onto the crossbar, much to the relief of a rooted Bernd Leno.

Leno was called upon only a few minutes later, as Palace found themselves with another opportunity. Mitchell, who had been a menace down the left side the whole game, found Benteke with a cross around 9 yards out. The target man does well to direct the ball into the top corner. Even so, Bernd Leno makes a top class save, lunging to his right and palming the ball away from his net – yet again, proving his worth to the Arsenal squad.

An interesting, yet goalless half of football.

HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace

The second half was much less eventful than the first.

The only real chance again fell to Crystal Palace. Zaha picked up the ball on the right and looked to whip it in to a central Benteke. Granit Xhaka, who had backpedalled from the midfield, was able to slide in and clear it from danger.

Substitutions saw the introduction of Thomas Partey, finally finding some minutes after his injury.

Although Arsenal controlled the game and Crystal Palace looked as if they were bound to score, the match ends goalless.

FULL TIME: Arsenal 0-0 Crystal Palace

The draw sees Arsenal stay above Palace, in 11th. Despite this, it leaves them at the mercy of Leeds, where if they win against Brighton will surpass the Gunners.

STARTING XI PLAYER RATINGS:

Leno – 8

Clean sheet. Wasn’t called upon much but did well when he was.

Maitland-Niles – 6

A clean sheet, however, was sloppy in possession and an obvious downgrade from Kieran Tierney.

Luiz – 7

Clean sheet. Controlled most of the Gunner’s possession.

Holding – 7

Clean sheet. Other than that, a quiet game.

Bellerin – 7.5

Clean sheet. Looked lively at times but was just a tad off in other areas.

Xhaka – 7.5

Gave away fouls and lost possession unnecessarily. Did well to recover possession at times.

Ceballos – 7

Looked lively for most of the game, carried the ball well from midfield.

Aubameyang – 7.5

Picked up the ball well. Looked to make the right passes and runs. Couldn’t quite get a goal though.

Saka – 7

A quiet game by his standards. Found himself on the ball also, however, couldn’t do enough for a goal.

Smith-Rowe – 7

Also a quiet game for him. Did well when he had the ball and was again the heart of the offense.

Lacazette – 7

Was in the right positions but couldn’t quite get a hold of the ball. Looked to score at times, but came up short.