Arsenal reclaimed first place in the Premier league with a 2-0 home win over Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Gunners were made to work hard for the victory but the team again struck in the second half thanks to a brace from the fit and firing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Arsenal will stay top this week if Manchester City fail to beat Chelsea in a 2nd vs. 3rd clash during Monday Night Football.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was starting only his second game since picking up an injury on the first day of the season, but the 20-year old England man has wasted no time in getting up to form. However, the breakthrough took a time to come as Palace put up a resilient front during the first 45-minutes, frustrating the Gunners and the Emirates faithful.
Arsenal carved open several chances early on, including a Nacho Monreal chance after the Spaniard collected Mesut Ozil’s glided pass. The left back was thwarted by Palace keeper Julian Speroni when he rushed out to make the save. Former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh was causing problems for his former club as he broke clear, but could only strike the ball against a grateful Wojciech Szczesny.
Despite struggling near the bottom of the table, Palace demonstrated the clear improvement that has been evident under Tony Pulis and provided a disciplined test for Arsenal. Pulis had clearly sent his troops out to bother the Arsenal attack and it worked as the home team could not find its typical flowing rhythm. The half ended with the scores even and Arsene Wenger once again had to chase the win in the second period.
Luckily, Wenger´s team talks at the midway point seem to have been working of late and so it proved again as the Gunners emerged with more impetuous. With 47 minutes on the clock Santi Cazorla found Oxlade-Chamberlain with a beautiful pass and the 20-year old wasted no time in chipping the ball in to the net, giving Arsenal the lead and control over the top of the Premier League.
However, with Palace always looking capable of scoring it seemed that a second goal would be needed. Luckily it came on the 73minutes when a neat passage of play between the selfless Oliver Giroud and Oxlade-Chamberlain resulted in the midfielder running clear of the Palace defence and slotting the ball past the flailing Speroni.