MATCH FACTS
- Date – 1st January 2017
- Venue – Emriates Stadium
- Attendance – 59,975
- Referee – Andre Marriner
- Bookings – Monreal, Tomkins
- Goals – Giroud (17), Iwobi (56)
- Star Eagle – Wayne Hennessey (7.7)
TEB VERDICT
Not many had Palace down to win this one so the result was expected but the visitors did not manage to give Arsenal much to think about throughout. Add to that a spectacular opener for the hosts which will be a contender for goal of the season it really was not a good night for the Eagles. The lacklustre showing will have shown Allardyce just what kind of job he has on his hands, particularly the reliance this side has on Wilfried Zaha who was not as influential ahead of his departure to the African Cup Of Nations.
PLAYER RATINGS (courtesy of Who Scored)
13 Wayne Hennessey (7.7) – Could do nothing with the stunning opener for the hosts but did everything asked of him throughout in an good all round performance.
2 Joel Ward (6.4) – Struggled at times in the left back role but got his foot in to challenge as much as he could.
5 James Tomkins (6.3) – Decent performance considering that he was brought back from injury perhaps sooner than he should have been.
6 Scott Dann (6.5) – Looked a little out of sorts particularly considering he was ill on the pitch but he was one player we could not do without with the lack of cover at centre back. His poor clearance led to the second goal.
34 Martin Kelly (6.8) – Followed up his recent good form by standing up well in the face of a talented front line for the hosts.
4 Mathieu Flamini (6.3) – A disappointing return to his former club but was overrun in midfield.
7 Yohan Cabaye (6.8) – Worked hard and battled but faded as the game went on. Had a great chance which he took quickly from distance but well saved. Replaced by 22 Jordon Mutch (6.2) on 65 minutes who could not make any impact on the game.
42 Jason Puncheon (6.2) – Chased and harrassed the opposition but struggled with the lack of possession in the game.
11 Wilfried Zaha (7.1) – Clearly a marked man in this game and did not get some of the decisions he perhaps should have. He let it effect him.
10 Andros Townsend (7.0) – A frustrating night of working the right hand side for the majority of the game but going forwad and supporting the back line. Replaced by 14 Chung-yong Lee (6.4) on 71 minutes who showed a few nice touched in the short time he was on.
17 Christian Benteke (7.1) – Worked hard as the loan striker once again but got little change from a stubborn home defence. Replaced by 9 Fraizer Campbell (6.0) on 77 minutes.
Unused substitutes – 1 Julian Speroni, 26 Bakary Sako, 43 Noor Husin, 45 Michael Phillips
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
‘Our season won’t be defined by results against the top six. What we do when we play the teams in the bottom half of the league will be the defining reason of whether or not we get out of the bottom half. I have every confidence in the players that it will turn around and hopefully as quickly as possible.’ – SAM ALLARDYCE courtesy of BBC Sport.
‘It was a great counter attack at great speed, his reflex surprised everybody who knows football and that’s what makes the goal great. I have been a bit spoilt over the years by the exceptional quality of the players I’ve had, but it will be remembered as an exceptional goal. Olly is very good in front of goal, but I’ve never seen this kind of goal from him.’ – ARSENE WENGER courtesy of BBC Sport
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Alexis Sanchez (8.5) who also had the most shots (8). The most tackles were made by Nacho Monreal and Martin Kelly (5) while Wilfried Zaha (5) had the most dribbles.
- Team rating: 7.38 – 6.62
- Total shots: 22 – 7
- Shots on target: 7 – 4
- Possession: 64.1% – 35.9%
- Pass success: 85% – 74%
- Dribbles: 9 – 7
- Tackles: 26 – 17
- Corners: 8 – 4
- Dispossessed: 14 – 15
POSITION IN THE TABLE
Palace remain in 17th place, two points above Sunderland in 18th and two points behind Middlesbrough in 16th.
