Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Sunday, but it wasn’t a vintage performance from the North London side.
A stunning goal from Olivier Giroud was cancelled out by a drilled finish by Jamie Ward in the first half, but the Eagles were unable to come back again after Damien Delaney put the ball in to his own net.
The three points were very important for the Gunners, who came in to the game off the back of a 0-2 defeat to West Ham. With Manchester City and Chelsea both playing after their fixture, Arsene Wenger will now be hopint to enter the Premier League title race in earnest.
However, they will have to do better than this to win the competition…
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GK) Petr Cech, 5
Couldn’t do anything about the goal, but didn’t look solid for the rest of the encounter either.
RB) Hector Bellerin, 6
Wasn’t able to make an impact while Yannick Bolasie was on the pitch, although he did cross the ball for the winner.
LB) Nacho Monreal, 6
Not on top of his game defensively, but did make some inroads going forward. Unusual for the full-back, who is usually better at the back.
CB) Laurent Koscielny, 5
Wasn’t at his best during when the team conceded, and will need to improve in games against better sides.
CB) Per Mertesacker, 7
Coming up against strong, but slow, strikers played in to the Germany international’s hands.
CM) Francis Coquelin, 2
Incredibly lucky to stay on the field, and should have been sent off for numerous wild challenges.
CM) Santi Cazorla, 6
Playing deeper than he did last week, and was able to help build attacks for the North Londoners.
CAM) Mesut Ozil, 8
Grabbed an assist for Giroud’s goal, and looked far more active than he did against West Ham last time round.
RAM) Aaron Ramsey, 5
Unable to make any real inroads in to the Palace defence, and needs to get back to his form of 2013-14 if the Gunners are going to challenge for the title.
LAM) Alexis Sanchez, 8
Involved in both goals, and made things happen. However, it is worrying how much Arsenal rely on the former Barcelona man.
ST) Olivier Giroud, 8
Picked up an important goal amid rumours of Karim Benzema, and could have scored more for his efforts.
SUB) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 7
Looked lively when coming on to replace Coquelin. It was surprising the youngster didn’t start after his performance last week.
SUB) Mikel Arteta, 6
Not on the pitch long enough to make a real impact, but did shore things up in the final minutes.
SUB) Kieran Gibbs, 6
Same as Arteta, coming on for Ozil in the dying stages.