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Final Result: Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal (Odegaard 53′)

Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Tomiyasu – red card 67′, Saliba, White, Partey; Rice, Havertz, Odegaard (Kiwior 89′); Saka (Zinchenko 89′), Nketiah (Jorginho 79′), Martinelli (Gabriel 70′)

Mikel Arteta knew that the game against Crystal Palace was going to be a tough one but he stuck to the same side that got the goods against Nottingham Forest with the only enforced change being Takehiro Tomiyasu coming on for the injured Jurrien Timber. This also meant that after starting 73 games in a row for Arsenal, Gabriel was on the bench yet again, and this wasn’t helped with the rumors surfacing that the Brazilian defender is on the verge of joining Al-Ittihad in the Saudi Pro League. I’d take such news with a pinch of salt but if Gabriel is truly close to the departure lounge, Arsenal will need to react swiftly in the transfer market.

Another player that made a little bit of history in the Crystal Palace game was our talisman, Bukayo Saka, that featured in his 82nd consecutive Premier League game, matching Paul Merson’s longstanding record. Saka has been an amazing servant for the club and if he features against Fulham, he sets the new record, which will take some stuffing to beat.

Crystal Palace drew first blood when Andre Ayew got the better of Tomiyasu on the right flank and drilled a dangerous Ball towards Odsonne Edouard’s path but William Saliba was on hand to make an important block. Ayew continued to penetrate from the right and smashed in another cross that was anticipated and parried by Ramsdale but no Crystal Palace player was on hand to fire the ball to the Arsenal net, with the rearguard doing their usual business of booting the ball to Row Z. 

The home side continued to pile the pressure with their dangerman, Eberechi Eze, firing a good shot that was easy pickings for Ramsdale, then Crystal Palace’s holding midfielder, Cheick Doucoure, made some forays forward and blasted his shots over the bar. The man must have aimed for a vulture in the sky because his shots were launched into orbit. 

Arsenal had a good rally late in the first half, with Eddie Nketiah, getting two big chances that should have put the visitors ahead. For the first chance, he was under some intense pressure from Marc Guehi but his showed great upper body strength to hold off his marker and side foot the ball past Sam Johnstone but the clip spared the goalie’s blushes. As for the second chance, oh dear. Nketiah showed great off the ball movement and was fed by Declan Rice, but his touch got him very close to the keeper and he attempted a chip from a rather acute angle and dinked the ball over the bar.

Gabriel Martinelli was isolated on the left but he had a gaping goal when Thomas Partey smartly chipped the ball to his direction, but his finishing let him down as he blasted the ball wide. Early in the second half, Martinelli showed his good football IQ with a quickly taken dead ball that sent Nketiah clear on goal, before he was scythed down by Johnstone. While the VAR chums did their thing, Saka was seen holding the ball but after the penalty was confirmed, Saka handed the ball to Martin Odegaard, who picked his spot and sent Johnstone the wrong way to give the Gunners the lead.

One may assume that the penalty miss against West Ham last season, as well as the miss to Barcelona in preseason must have weighed on Saka, for him to hand the ball to his captain. Or maybe it was an instruction from his gaffer. It didn’t matter. One Nil to the Arsenal.

From there onwards, there were a couple of half chances for both sides. Ayew got past Tomiyasu and fired a shot to the side netting, then Kai Havertz latched onto the ball following some good work from Nketiah to blast his shot wide. Then it happened – Tomiyasu was already on a booking following his delayed throw-in on the 60th minute.

Seven minutes later, Tomiyasu cynically fouled Ayew, who had been roasting him all game long, to stop a Crystal Palace counter attack. David Coote wasted no time in brandishing a red card, leaving Arsenal on the lurch.

With Arsenal down to 10 men with almost 30 minutes left to play, Mikel Arteta tore a page from the Sean Dyche and David Moyes playbook to unleash some Satanball. Martinelli was substituted for Gabriel, and Nketiah was axed for Jorginho. Arteta switched to a 5-3-1 tactical setup, and towards the tail end of the game, Satanball was upgraded to Level 2.0 with Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko coming on for Odegaard and Saka. With Satanball 2.0 in full force, Arsenal had a formation that looked like this,

This was Satanball at its finest. Dyche would have been extremely proud.

There was a penalty scare for Crystal Palace when Eze almost mesmerized his way in the Arsenal box, and despite a late flurry of attacks from the home side, Satanball prevailed.

It was a defensive masterclass from Arsenal, who focused on technique and ball retention skills, while frustrating the Crystal Palace players whose numerical advantage counted for nothing. The ref’s whistle was like music to the ears of everyone connected with Arsenal, and the elation, as well as the sigh of relief was there for everyone to see.

Kudos to Arteta and his team for showing their resilience with a little bit of Satanball.

Sayonara.

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