A sumptuous strike from
Olivier Giroud helped Arsenal start the New Year with victory over Crystal
Palace and move up to third in the Premier League.
Press
Association report continues:
The
Gunners leapt back ahead of Manchester City and Tottenham courtesy of Giroud’s
wonderful first-half ‘scorpion kick’ volley, with Alex Iwobi’s second-half
header sealing a comfortable 2-0 win over Sam Allardyce’s struggling Eagles.
Arsenal
face a trip to Bournemouth on Tuesday night but they began 2017 with the three
points they needed to return to the top four, having been temporarily displaced
after Tottenham’s earlier win at Watford.
Arsenal
manager Arsene Wenger: “That will be remembered as the Giroud goal that
nobody will forget. Every striker is remembered for one or two or three special
goals and that will certainly remain with him forever. People come to games to
see these kind of goals. I’ve been spoilt in my career because I’ve had many
great players and many great strikers and that is certainly in the top five
(goals from an Arsenal player).”
Crystal
Palace manager Sam Allardyce: “I was disappointed in our first-half
performance. We gave much too good possession away. None more so than the
(Giroud) goal. That was simple possession given away on one of our attacks in
the first half. It was a brilliant piece of skill, how he took the goal, but
our passing wasn’t good enough. Two things (need) to happen for the team to get
better and produce more results: get the team fitter and buy players in.”
Tweet
of the match
Star
man – Alexis Sanchez
Admiration
for Sanchez’s work-rate is nothing new but the Chilean was consistently as
effective in the final third as he was in the first. The 28-year-old provided
Arsenal’s most frequent attacking threat, the cross for Giroud’s goal and often
dictated their tempo. In the absences of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, that
counted for much.
Moment
of the match
So
soon after Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s own contender for goal of the season, Giroud
produced a superior finish, equally as athletic and stylish, and also with the
back of his heel, that unlike Mkhitaryan’s was unquestionably onside. If a
better goal is scored in the 2016/17 Premier League, it may be one of the
division’s finest ever. It also gave Arsenal a deserved lead.
In
the season in which competition for the Premier League’s top four is perhaps
the most intense it has ever been, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal secured three vital
points that kept them in the top three at the halfway point of 2016/17. There
is so little margin for error that the absences of so many significant players
suggested Arsenal could yet struggle against Palace but they instead excelled
to rediscover the momentum that will be crucial hereafter. Sam Allardyce’s
impact at Palace has so far been minimal. He has one point from two games and
while defeat to one of Europe’s strongest teams should not necessarily be cause
for criticism, the fact they looked so short of motivation is.
Player
ratings
Arsenal: Petr
Cech: 8, Hector Bellerin: 7, Laurent Koscielny: 7, Gabriel
Paulista: 6, Nacho Monreal: 8, Granit Xhaka: 7, Mohamed Elneny: 8,
Alexis Sanchez: 8, Alex Iwobi: 7, Lucas Perez: 7, Olivier
Giroud: 8. Subs: Francis Coquelin (for Elneny, 72): 6,
Aaron Ramsey (for Perez, 72): 6, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (for Iwobi, 77): 6.
Crystal
Palace: Wayne Hennessey: 8, Martin Kelly: 6, Scott Dann: 6,
James Tomkins: 5, Joel Ward: 6, Mathieu Flamini: 6, Yohan
Cabaye: 6, Andros Townsend: 7, Jason Puncheon: 6, Wilfried Zaha: 6,
Christian Benteke: 6. Subs: Jordon Mutch (for Cabaye, 65): 5,
Chung-Yong Lee (for Townsend, 71): 6, Fraizer Campbell (for Benteke, 77): 5.
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