Winners and Losers: Crystal Palace (h)

On Monday evening, Patrick Vieira, legendary captain of Arsenal’s Invincibles, returned to north London. But this time, he was in the other dugout as manager of Crystal Palace, and was unlucky not to leave the Emirates with a win. Arsenal, after a dynamic opening to the game involving a goal after eight minutes, fizzled out and allowed Palace to take the lead before equalizing in the dying seconds of the contest. The match finished as a 2-2 draw. But despite the score being even at the end, plenty of winners and losers were still to be found from the match.

Winners

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The current Arsenal captain continued his decent scoring form on Monday, notching his sixth goal of the season to open the scoring for his team. In classic Aubameyang fashion, he was in the right place at the right time to tap home from a tight angle after Nicolas Pepe’s shot was deflected. He also pressed the Palace back line with ferocity and exhibited some good interplay with Alexandre Lacazette. Despite most of his teammates failing to impress, the Gabonese striker has continued to look sharp this season.

Alexandre Lacazette

Lacazette has been quite a good sport about being the clear second option this season. Despite starting only a single match so far during this campaign, he has looked lively and committed whenever he has taken the field. That remained the case on Monday. From the moment he came on for Martin Odegaard, the entire team kicked things up a notch offensively. The sustained momentum seemingly caused by the Frenchman’s presence eventually resulted in Lacazette grabbing a late equalizer to spare his Arsenal’s blushes. Even though Aubameyang has been in good form so far this season, Lacazette continues to knock on the door for a starting place in future matches.

Aaron Ramsdale

Ramsdale once again justified his selection over Leno on Monday. Arguably the best player on the pitch for Arsenal, the English keeper made some terrific saves to keep his side in the contest. His distribution was also impressive. Despite conceding two goals against Palace, Ramsdale was very much not to blame. At this point, there remains no question that he should be the man between the sticks for Arsenal.

Losers

Thomas Partey

He needs to stop shooting. It has gone from being an annoying joke to looming as a concerning waste of possession in critical moments. On top of that, Partey’s susceptibility to getting caught on the ball initiated Palace’s first goal. The Ghanaian was signed to be a stalwart in midfield for the Gunners. But ironically, the man viewed by many viewed as a long-awaited replacement for Patrick Vieira embarrassed himself against the side managed by the former player he was supposed to emulate. Partey remains the best midfielder Arsenal have. But his inconsistency in the middle of the pitch is becoming a sizeable concern.

Bukayo Saka

Saka is not on here because of how he played against Palace. Saka was a Loser on Monday night because of what happened with James McArthur. In the first half, the Palace player kicked Arsenal’s starboy so hard in his right leg that he did return for the second half of the match. And yet, only a yellow card was issued by referee Mike Dean. Saka has faced his fair share of kicks as one of the more dangerous players Arsenal boast. But against Palace, the precedent was set that the young Englishman can practically be assaulted on the pitch with no major consequence. If other officials fail to protect Saka the way Mike Dean did during the Palace match, the Arsenal youngster’s career could be in jeopardy.

Martin Odegaard

Monday marked the second consecutive stinker Odegaard has had for Arsenal. The Norwegian once again found himself rather uninvolved in proceedings, similar to how he did against Brighton. And once again, his touch and passing were below par. There is no question that Odegaard is an immensely talented player. But he needs to shape up and take hold of matches if he is to realize his potential.

Mikel Arteta

Last season, when everything was on the line, Arteta was outsmarted by Unai Emery. On Monday, he was thoroughly outcoached by Patrick Vieira. The Arsenal manager is failing to prove his worth in significant matchups, and it’s not a good look. On top of that, Arteta is almost at 100 matches in charge and his team’s attack is still inconsistent at best. The Gunners have won only eight of their last 23 home games. With his hand-picked players in the squad and almost three years at the helm, things have not improved under Arteta as much as they need to. In the meantime, Vieira has taken Palace from locked-in relegation fodder to promising, young midtable team in a matter of months. It may not be time for Arsenal to pull the plug on Arteta just yet, but it would be silly at this point to not have an eye on other up-and-coming managers who have proven just as capable, if not more than the Spaniard.

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