Pic 1 source - https://www.skysports.com
Greetings from Footballistiqs, everyone!
Although it has been a while since the last update, we have huge news! The new Premier League season has finally begun, and Arsenal is the team to have won their opening game of the campaign against Crystal Palace.
Arsenal enters the match having won six of their seven preseason games, while Crystal Palace has also had a respectable run, winning five of its eight preseason games.
Starting XI-
Pic 2 source - https://www.365scores.com
Crystal Palace's manager, Patrick Viera, started the team in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Andersen and Guehi as the centre backs. Schlupp and the starting lineup's other newcomer, Doucoure, were supporting Zaha, Edouard, and Ayew's attack. a capable group to start the campaign.
Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, has been active in the summer transfer market, bringing in new players like Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who are making their Premier League debuts in new uniforms. Another fresh face was their defender Saliba, who had successfully completed a loan with them and was now back in their uniform. In a 3-4-1-2 configuration, Arteta placed Jesus and Martinelli up front. Additionally, Thomas Partey made a comeback after last season's injury and subsequent recovery.
Kick-Off
1. New day, new season, all teams competing on the same field for the Premier League Championship. The opening game at Selhurt Park was intriguing, with one club trying their best to stay in the top half of the standings and the other preparing to even contend for the Title, at 2000 BST, the Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal game began.
Pic 3 Source- https://flipboard.com
2. The game began with tremendous pace, control, and slick passing from Arsenal as usual. In the first three minutes of the game, they nearly took a 1-0 lead thanks to Martinelli's close-range miss. As he spread the play wide and to the left, Zinchenko appeared to be the standout offensive fullback.
3. Martinelli headed the ball into the goal for Arsenal to finally score after a flurry of shots. The move began with a skillfully executed set piece, in which Saka sent the ball from a corner on to the far post, where Zinchenko had made his way unnoticed. Martinelli was there to head the ball in after Zinchenko further headed the ball back inside toward the goal. 1-0 Arsenal after 20 minutes.
Pic 4 Source- https://www.washingtonpost.com/
4. On the other hand, Crystal Palace's midfield was not looking strong, and there was no desire to win the ball back. Their first opportunity came at the 40-minute mark after Ramsdale stopped a header from Edouard. The opportunity was unquestionably one to score, but Ramsdale showed his worth by keeping his team winning until halftime.
5. As the half came to a close, Crystal Palace was gaining control of the ball, and their defence was strong enough to prevent another goal from Arsenal's forwards. Arsenal leads Crystal Palace 1-0 at the half.
6. Crystal Palace was thought to be the superior team as the second half got underway as they kept up their momentum to tally the equaliser. Their star winger Zaha had a bad day at work because he was unable to get past Ben White, who was outstanding in his defensive responsibilities. Ayew and Edouard appeared to be moving about haphazardly.
Pic 5
7. Although Arsenal struggled to control the Crystal Palace onslaught, the Eagles were unable to penetrate this defence thanks to players like Saliba, White, and Gabriel. With a few miraculous saves and recoveries, Ramsdale unmistakably shown his class. He was also spotted providing long balls to his attackers.
8. Crystal Palace's inability to take advantage of opportunities presented to them and Arsenal's defence prevented them from doing so. Andersen stood out in the contest because he appeared to be the livelier of all the Palace players.
Pic 6 Source - https://askbygeeks.com/
9. With five minutes left on the clock, Palace players were hoping to take advantage of one opportunity to salvage something from the game, but unfortunately for them, the ball fell to substitute Nketiah, who passed it wide to Saka and fired in a cross only to find the net after the ball got deflected from defender Guehi, leading to an own goal by the defender. Second strike for Arsenal.
10. Arsenal continued to shut down Patrick Viera's team until the final whistle sounded at Selhurst Park, giving Arsenal their first victory of the new campaign and handing Crystal Palace their first loss.
STATS
Pic 7 Source - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
ANALYSIS
1. The game, in its simplest form, was a conflict between two halves with two distinct circumstances. The Gunners dominated the first half, but as the game slowed down in the second, Palace was given opportunities to score.
2. Similar to City, Arsenal were playing a positional game. The attacking shape resembled a standard 3-2-5, with Zinchenko and Saka giving Odegaard, Jesus, and Martinelli width on either end. Martinelli and Zinchenko had a strong running partnership that allowed them to penetrate the defence and open up opportunities.
Pic 8 : Arsenal in attack
3. The first half saw an exceptional integration of quick passes and teamwork into the Arsenal attack's structure. It was quite difficult for Palace to disrupt their play if they had the ball. In the meantime, once Arsenal lost possession of the ball, it was evident that Palace players were taking advantage of the yellow spaces (as depicted in the picture 8), as one of their key ball-handlers, Andersen, was constantly feeding long balls into these areas where either Zaha or Ayew would be making their run. However, it was frequently observed that Saka was assisting White in fully blocking Zaha from making any runs because White was marking Zaha.
4. As was already indicated, Arsenal struggled to keep the ball under control in the second half. Palace fans gained confidence after the first half since it finished well for them, and Arsenal began to play a little deeper. As a result, during the more significant portions of the second half, they were unable to feed the balls into the attacking half. The Arsenal defenders either blocked or Ramsdale saved shots from Zaha, Edouard, and Mateta as Palace attempted to generate additional opportunities.
5. Guehi's own goal in the 85th minute gave the Gunners the victory and a winning start to the new season.
6. Palace must take responsibility for the defeat.
Summary
Pic 9 Source - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Arsenal seem to continue their pattern of showing world class football in the opening half an hour of the game, and then play a much deeper role in the latter half. They face Leicester at home next, which will be a interesting match to watch. Arteta would want his players to continue their world class form into the games to come and would be training to ensure that his players dont tire out in the later stages of the game.
Viera on the other hand would definitely be looking at converting chances and not just creating them, the stats from above state that his team had major chunk of the ball in the game but have no goals to show for. Mateta seems to be the better option to Edouard, and Ayew needs to work hard in training in order to make an impact from the right.
Final Score - Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal
Man of the match - Zinchenko (Arsenal).
Most Valuable Player - Andersen (Crystal Palace).
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