Palace were not patsies without Tony Pulis and Arsenal had to work hard to get maximum points from the match.
Arsenal started more confidently and dominated throughout the first half, although they failed to produce any gilt edged chances.
Palace struck right out of the blue with literally their first chance of the match. Brede Hangeland got the deftest of touches to a corner kick at the near post and the ball went in where a defender should have been defending the far post.
Arsenal responded and equalized on the stroke of halftime. An Alexis Sanchez free kick found the head of Laurent Koscielny and he cleverly managed to head it home.
Arsenal picked up the pace in the second half, but their play lacked fluidity at times and they had difficulty creating good chances against Palace.
Moments after Jason Puncheon was sent off for Palace, Arsenal struck. A series of headers set up Debuchy up close. His shot was saved, however the deflection came back to Aaron Ramsey and he bundled the shot over and secured the win.
Player Ratings:
Szczesny 6. Not much to do. There was little he could have done about the goal, other than have someone guard the post in future.
Debuchy 7. A good game attacking. Still learning to work with his teammates though as there were several mix-ups during the match. It was his shot that led to the winning goal being scored.
Chambers 7. A very good game for Callum. Looked assured on the ball and intervened when he had to. He did pick up a rash yellow card.
Koscielny 8. Many were worried that Laurent wouldn’t play. Well he did and he played well, although he was a little late dealing with Hangeland. He scored a key goal though, just before halftime.
Gibbs 7. He was having a solid game until midway in the second half, when it appears he hurt his hamstring. He’ll be gone for at least three weeks.
Arteta 7. An all round tidy game for Arteta, who kept the ball moving and provided cover for the defence.
Wilshere 7. Jack was generally quite effective at moving the ball and trying to break down the Palace defence. Had a decent shot that forced a save from Speroni. Faded a little and was substituted.
Ramsey 8. Man of the match, but not by that much, mainly due to him scoring the winner. He had one or two other speculative chances, but he was on hand to finish off Palace at the end. His positioning right now is faultless.
Sanchez 7. A tough intro to the Premier League for Alexis. All day long he was muscled off the ball and had opponents nipping at his heels. Some of his passes are not coming off and he still needs to figure out where his teammates are and where they’re going. At times he cut a frustrated figure. On the positive side, he is always involved, he always looks dangerous, he had a couple of shots, and he assisted on the opening goal.
Sanogo 6. Not the best game for Yaya, who tried to combine with others, but often looked isolated. There was the inevitable chance squandered by being a little clumsy, although he did dribble past a Palace defender once and make a good pass.
Cazorla 7. Santi was busy out there and had one or two shots on goal, however he was often dispossessed by more physical players or was crowded off the ball, something which happened to him often in our big losses last season.
Substitutes.
Monreal 7. With Gibbs ahead of you in the pecking order, you’re always guaranteed at least 20 games a season. Gibbs’s injury allowed Nacho to come on and play quite well. On one occasion he reached the byline and made a delicious cross which nobody managed to reach. It should’ve assisted the winning goal.
Giroud 6. He wasn’t able to really transform the team when he arrived, but he was more of a target for Arsenal crosses. He made a crucial header in the buildup to the winning goal.
Oxlade-Chamberlain 7. His quickness was effective against the tiring legs of Palace, but his best contributions came when he moved out onto the wing on a couple of occasions. His cross started the sequence for the winning goal.