5 Talking Points from our Win Over Crystal Palace

1️⃣ Gabriel Magalhães was dropped once again.

Gabriel Magalhães was not in the starting XI once more. There were rumors linking him to Real Madrid and Saudi Arabia. This situation was quite concerning. Personally, I highly rated Gabriel Magalhães. In today’s market, I would have valued him at over 80 million. At that time, I didn’t see any offers coming close to that figure. Thus, I was puzzled as to why there was even consideration of potentially selling him. It seemed he was on the bench due to tactical reasons, and I couldn’t believe these reports at that point.

@FabrizioRomano said “Arsenal have no intention to sell Gabriel Magalhães despite Al Ittihad interest”

2️⃣ Nketiah had a game of two halves.

Eddie Nketiah hit the post and missed a chance due to being hesitant in front of the goal. On any other day, he could have scored two goals. Luckily, he won a penalty and redeemed himself. Unfortunately, he continued to make mistakes in the second half, even interfering with Martinelli’s play and appearing rather clumsy. After the 79th minute, Jorginho was subbed in. Despite a fairly decent second half, Eddie Nketiah’s defensive efforts were commendable, but offensively, he was lacking.

3️⃣ The penalty taker 

A breakthrough finally came through a quick free-kick, resulting in a penalty. Surprisingly, Bukayo Saka did not take it; instead, Martin Ødegaard did.

4️⃣ A harsh red card given to Tomiyasu

Tomiyasu had possession of the ball for only 8 seconds before receiving a booking for his throw-in. The second yellow card seemed to be based on very little. It was a complete farce.

Tomiyasu was sent off for a challenge identical to Ayew’s on Saka, while also carrying a booking. This was an absolute farce. It was simply foolishness. Ayew should have been sent off for his foul on Saka before the goal. David Coote’s refereeing was disgraceful.

I’d bet any amount of money that a Man City player wouldn’t have been sent off for that. Otherwise, Rodri would have had 10 red cards. Unfortunately, Tomiyasu got his first yellow card for time-wasting, and the second one was equally baffling.

5️⃣ The nervy ending

Arsenal just needed to secure a 1-0 victory. Arteta took off all the attackers except Havertz to try to hold onto possession and run down the clock. There were seven minutes of extra time. We simply needed to see out the game. Interestingly, our defensive play improved significantly after Arteta’s changes.

🎶 One-nil to the Arsenal. Oh and don’t forget, London is Red 🔴⚪️

To sum up, Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, marking 13 undefeated games in London derbies. In addition to that, we had won two games in a row to start the campaign. There was more to come. Hopefully, we’d keep our first clean sheet of the season. It was worth remembering that winning by a narrow margin could be just as effective as a more convincing victory.