Saturday saw us run riot against Crystal Palace by scoring five times to record our joint-biggest league win of the campaign, as we put in a clinical display in front of goal.
To find out the keys to our success, Adrian Clarke has delved into the tactical and statistical side of the game to find the subtle reasons why we were so devastating:
Making runs for Raya
When you strip back this performance, especially when analysing the second half, it was our desire to make forceful dynamic runs that hurt Crystal Palace more than anything else. The best example of this was Leandro Trossard’s goal to make it 3-0 on 59 minutes.
While David Raya was in the process of making a high claim, before his feet had even touched the ground, both Gabriel Jesus and Trossard were already on the half-turn, ready to make lung-busting runs that caught our opponents cold. Going from catch to goal within 10 seconds it was a piece of bright, forceful football that indicated how sharp his mindset was.
It was a brilliant breakaway strike, but just nine minutes earlier we almost witnessed a very similar goal. On that occasion Kai Havertz made an early run for Raya to pick him out with a volley kick, but Trossard (circled below) could not apply the finish after a long sprint upfield to support the German.
Throughout this match Raya wanted to release the ball early, and this set a tempo that was too high for the Eagles to handle.
Fabulous through balls
Mikel Arteta’s side average 2.71 through balls per match this season, but against Crystal Palace we produced seven - two of which resulted in goals for Gabriel Martinelli.
The visitors set out to press us at every opportunity, and as a by-product of that tactic, their defensive line was held a little higher than many would have expected from Roy Hodgson’s men. Seeing that inviting space, we had forwards who were always looking to sprint beyond the last man, and the man in possession was happy to oblige by looking to split the defence.
Through balls v Palace
| Oleksandr Zinchenko | 2 |
| Martin Odegaard | 1 |
| Gabriel Jesus | 1 |
| Ben White | 1 |
| Eddie Nketiah | 1 (assist) |
| Jorginho | 1 (assist) |
Pleasingly, six different Gunners had the vision and confidence to make those incisive passes. The pick of the bunch came from substitute Jorginho, who exposed Palace’s high line with a delightful, chipped pass to release Martinelli in beyond the last man for his second goal of the game.
Martinelli’s pair of Henry-esque finishes, opening his body up to pass the ball into the far corner, put the seal on an excellent display.
Beating the press
The Eagles opted to be aggressive in their defensive approach, pushing up as a collective to press us when we played out from the back, and our response was outstanding. Moving the ball confidently between members of the back four and the midfield in front, the south Londoners were regularly left chasing shadows as we progressed through the thirds.
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s return helped greatly in this department. During the first half in particular he slotted into central midfield to create overloads alongside Declan Rice, and their calmness when receiving the ball under pressure and making accurate passes was eye-catching.
Rice & Zinchenko's successful passes
Gabriel’s set piece desire
Gabriel’s involvement in our two first-half strikes set us on our way to this morale-boosting win, and both efforts were created in a near-identical manner.
Ben White’s position next to the goalkeeper was designed to make it difficult for Dean Henderson to come out and catch the cross. Our two far-post attackers then made decoy runs across the face of goal, to leave a pocket at the far post open for our Brazilian centre-back to attack.
On both occasions Gabriel’s clever and determined movement got him away from man-marker Chris Richards on the penalty spot, to latch onto the end of each delivery with an emphatic header. We have now scored more goals from corners (10) than any other team this season.
Subs shine
It was great to see Emile Smith Rowe enjoy a 21-minute runout against the Eagles. He was sharp in everything he did, knitting several flowing moves together with his awareness, balance, running power and distribution. Feeding a couple of intelligent passes into the box, his cameo was uplifting.
Martinelli’s superb brace from the bench will have raised his self-belief, and it was also a positive for Eddie Nketiah and Jorginho that they provided terrific assists for the Brazilian’s goals. We've now registered 16 goals and assists from substitutes in the Premier League this term, more than any other club in the division.
Supremely dominant
This result and performance were just what the side needed to turn around or form, and no-one could argue that the margin of victory wasn’t deserved either. We produced 10 chances with a higher xG (expected goals) rating than Palace’s best opportunity, which came via a looping header over the bar from Richards.
This chalkboard outlines the supremacy we enjoyed, registering 21 shots with a 3.21 (+1.0 own goal) xG, compared with just a 0.35xG from the Eagles.
It took some time for us to find our fluid best in open play, but across the 90 minutes, this was a contest that Arteta’s side controlled with assurance and quality. The brief winter break and the warm-weather trip to Dubai seem to have re-energised the group going into the second half of the season.
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