Arsenal were the only home team to win today as the Premier League kicked off with some very close matches.
It was by no means an easy win for the Gunners, as Crystal Palace played with the defensive discipline and physicality you'd expect from a Tony Pulis side, despite the manager resigning less than 48 hours before the match.
Arsenal started well, especially down the right hand side, where new signings Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy combined to give Palace left-back Joel Ward a lot of problems. Sanchez in particular looked good, despite not having a great understanding with his teammates at this early stage. His individual ability was clear to see. Alexis's first touch, dribbling ability, and creativity was Arsenal's most consistent attacking threat today.
As time went on, Palace settled into the game and stopped most Arsenal attacks before they could reach dangerous positions. The first match of the season is always difficult, but no one struggled more in the first half than young striker Yaya Sanogo. The Frenchman earned his spot in the starting lineup in the Emirates Cup and the Community Shield, where he was excellent on the counter attack and constantly found dangerous positions behind the defense. Unlike Benfica and Man City, Palace sat back, content to take a point, and Sanogo struggled to find space for himself against such a deep line. When he tried to check to the ball, his first touch was often poor, and he was shrugged off by the likes of Mile Jedinak and Brede Hangeland.
With the focal point of Arsenal's attack neutralized, the Gunners struggled to find a Plan B. Arsenal's methodical buildup often gave Palace time to park their bus in front of goal. Palace's physicality gave Arsenal many chances via free kicks and corners, but Santi Cazorla was very poor with his delivery all match. But Palace was getting no players forward and they never looked like a serious threat to break the deadlock. If anyone was going to score, it was going to be Arsenal.
Or so it seemed. In the 33rd minute, Callum Chambers poorly gave the ball away, trying to find Sanogo in a crowded area. With 3 defenders in front of him, Jason Puncheon attempted to get in behind, and Jedinak obliged with a through ball.
Laurent Koscielny quickly had the situation under control and was yards ahead of Puncheon as soon as the ball was played. He never got the chance to take control.
Wojciech Szczesny, perhaps inspired by the World Cup performances of Germany sweeper-keeper Manuel Neuer, rushed 30 yards off his line to clear the ball, bizarrely beating Koscielny to it. Szczesny's woeful clearance went straight to a Palace player, who proceeded to shoot from the half-line. With the shot looking on target and Szczesny still well off his line, Koscielny lunged to save a goal.
It was a piece of pathetically poor play from Szczesny, putting his team in danger when under no pressure to do so.
Frazier Campbell retrieved the ball in the Arsenal penalty area with Szczesny racing back to his line. Koscielny recovered very quickly to miraculously tackle the ball cleanly and avoid a penalty and red card, but Palace did win their first corner of the match from the situation.
Arsenal's defensive setup on the set piece was very poor. The zonal marking system on corner kicks worked well last year, but largely due to the ability of Olivier Giroud and Per Mertesacker to win aerial duels at the near post. Sanogo's positioning was poor as the ball sailed over his head, and Koscielny was unable to match the leap of the much taller Hangeland. Curiously, no players were on either post as Hangeland's header fired straight into the bottom corner on his Crystal Palace debut.
It was an extremely frustrating goal to concede for two reasons. First, the corner kick itself was the result of Szczesny's baffling decision to come out of his box and his poor execution when attempting to clear the ball to the middle of the field rather than out of play. Second, the defense should have been better organized to stop the corner kick.
The visitors were unable to hold onto the lead until half-time, however, as Alexis's tricky dribbling won a free kick in a dangerous area in first half stoppage time. This time Alexis took the free kick, rather than Cazorla, and he took it marvelously. Alexis dropped the ball perfectly between the penalty spot and the six-yard-box. Koscielny, held onside by Hangeland, finished coolly from a difficult position. It was a great goal, scored by a man who so often steps up when the club needs him most. The accuracy of both Alexis's delivery and Koscielny's header was truly first-rate. The Arsenal players must have been relieved to score so late in the half after gifting Palace such an avoidable goal just 10 minutes earlier.
Palace set out to take their point in the second half, dropping even deeper behind the ball and getting more and more physical with their tackling. Marouane Chamakh in particular committed over 10 fouls (finally getting booked on his 11th) and no player suffered more fouls than Jack Wilshere. Wilshere wasn't at his best today, he held on to the ball too long at times and tried to beat his man with a dribble too frequently. Yes he won his team a number of free kicks, but it is easy to see why Wilshere is susceptible to injury when you watch him play. If he is going to stay fit this season, he will need to learn that sometimes he should take the quick easy pass. He needs to pick and choose his opportunities to take men off the dribble. Otherwise he will suffer contact injuries, the type of knocks new fitness coach Shad Forsythe can do nothing about.
Arsenal lacked width in their attack as the second half went on. The passing was too slow, too short, and too inaccurate to break down Palace's two lines of defenders. Jedinak and Scott Dann were excellent breaking up attack after attack. Chamakh did well to set up Puncheon early in the half, but the winger's shot was soft and directly at Szczesny--the Arsenal keeper's only save of the match.
Arsenal slowly began to wear down their opponents. The introductions of Giroud and Nacho Monreal helped a lot, as Giroud was able to stand up the physicality of the Palace center-halves and Monreal's intelligent runs forward were very well-timed.
Chamakh handled the ball in his box shortly after Giroud came on, and Palace were lucky not to concede a penalty. Arsenal controlled the match more and more as time went on, but continued to struggle to find the final ball and create good chances to score. Giroud played a dangerous ball across the goal in the last 10 minutes, but no one was able to meet it. Palace wasted more and more time, trying to escape with a point.
Awarded a corner kick in the 90th minute, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's initial delivery failed to beat the front man, Chamakh. The former Arsenal player's clearance was poor, however, and Arsenal was able to work the ball back out to the Ox for another attempt. This time the cross went to the far post, where the ever-present Koscielny was waiting. His header was played across goal to Giroud, who headed the ball to Mathieu Debuchy in a very dangerous position. Julian Speroni was able to save Debuchy's shot from point-blank range, but Aaron Ramsey was perfectly positioned to score the winner on the rebound.
It was a relief for the home fans in a match where Arsenal dominated possession, if not creating many good chances from open play. After defending Palace's first set piece so poorly, Arsenal was somehow able to score twice from dead ball situations to win the match. It was a far from convincing victory, but the first match of the season is always difficult, and 3 points are 3 points at the end of the day.
Arsenal now will need to step up for their Tuesday trip to Istanbul in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Besiktas. If the Turkish team employs similarly defensive tactics, Arsenal could find themselves needing to grind out another difficult result.
Crystal Palace Takeaway: The Eagles will be disappointed not to get a point, as they organized well enough to stop Arsenal from creating chances in open play. However, their lack of attacking firepower might be a major problem this year. Arsenal often pushed both full-backs forward in attack, but the Eagles were completely unable to counter-attack despite the numbers being in their favor. Only Cardiff and Norwich, both relegated, scored less goals than Crystal Palace last season. They will need to develop a stronger attack if they want to keep their Premier League dreams alive.
Arsenal Takeaway: In years past, many teams have been able to get out of the Emirates Stadium with a point by employing similar defensive tactics. Arsenal will be relieved to earn 3 points from what was a very physical and difficult test. Koscielny and Chambers played well in defense, but Arsenal's attacking options really struggled today. They will need to improve quickly, as the Arsenal schedule gets much tougher quickly with matches against Besiktas and some of the league's best clubs coming up in the next month.
Man of the Match: Koscielny. The French defender came up huge for Arsenal in the biggest moments of the match, playing a crucial role in both defense and attack. His goal was taken perfectly, and he mopped up well in defense when he was often alone in the back with Chambers. Koscielny was immense for the entire match, and was the best player on the pitch by a mile. In my opinion he deserves serious consideration for the title of best defender in England.
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