Arsenal lost their first half lead to later get just one point from the lunchtime encounter with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
The starting lineup was unchanged from the side that recorded the 1-0 victory over Manchester United on New Year's Day. The combination of Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette,Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was once again deployed.
Our first noticeable action came seconds into the match when we earned a corner kick, then we exchanged catchy passes. It was a nice aight to behold.
Later on, Aubameyang and Kolasinac combined well down the left flank but the delivery from the latter got deflected for a goal kick. Our breakthrough was not standing afar off.
Our attack continued with their fluidity and it paid off in the 12th minute. Aubameyang was fed by his very good pal Lacazette and to the bottom corner he sent the ball, putting us at a one-goal advantage. That was our first shot on target, Auba's 14th Premier League goal of the season.
There was no big cutting edge for us afterwards even though we dominated play. Auba was close to getting another but could not make contact with Ozil's freekick before Tomkins did.
Bernd Leno and Kolasinac intervened on the brink of halftime to maintain our lead. Overall, we excellently controlled the tides in the first half.
Our boss had to make a change at the start of the second period, bringing in Matteo Guendouzi to replace the highly-influential Lucas Torreira. His withdrawal told on our performance as our midfield could not hold on play like in the initial half.
It was the hosts' time to smile following an upgraded play. Ayew stepped up to fire a deflection past Leno. Thanks to masterminded Kouyate. We were still looking to put ourselves together for a comeback when another hit us. It wasn't a goal but a red card to put captain.
He had initially been handed a yellow card for a dangerous challenge on Meyer but upon a VAR review, the decision was changed and he was sent off. He was visibly downcast as he walked off the pitch.
Arteta immediately made a tactical change by bringing in Martinelli for Ozil. Surprisingly, the dismissal did not reflect in our gameplay as much as one would expect. It was during this time we even played better in the second half.
Pepe got a late change but it was tipped on to the bar by Guaita and a sliding effort from Lacazette was saved. It was 1-1 at full-time meaning we shared points.
We will be back in action in the Premier League with a home game against Sheffield United next Saturday.
0 Comments
Your comments are highly welcomed but please be informed that comments which include abusive remarks, hate speech, racial discriminatory remarks and any other form of prejudice are prohibited. Also note that comments visibility is subject to moderation so they will not show immediately.