{"id":4395,"date":"2023-08-22T14:04:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-22T14:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/2023\/08\/22\/arsenal-beat-crystal-palace-in-hard-fought-epl-gw-2-matchup\/"},"modified":"2024-09-27T02:21:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T02:21:52","slug":"arsenal-beat-crystal-palace-in-hard-fought-epl-gw-2-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/arsenal-beat-crystal-palace-in-hard-fought-epl-gw-2-matchup\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Beat Crystal Palace in Hard-Fought EPL GW 2 Matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal came out guns blazing in their EPL GW 2 match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, only to end up fighting to maintain their lead as the match ended. Arsenal beat Crystal Palace a measly 1-0, in what was a hugely entertaining match, especially in the second half.<\/p>\n

Odegaard to the Rescue<\/h2>\n

Martin Odegaard scored the only goal of the match, with a superb penalty conversion in the 54th minute. Note; we are talking of Arsenal\u2019s only goal as resulting from a penalty and not actual back-and-forth play. Arsenal were lethal, yes, but only in the first half and first quarter of the second half.<\/p>\n

Easy Eze<\/h2>\n

Come the second half, Crystal started baying for blood (much more ruthlessly than they had done before), especially with Odegaard\u2019s penalty conversion that gave Arsenal a single-goal lead. Things got pretty cutthroat at the front with Eberechi Eze bringing on the pressure like he\u2019d been sent to the pitch to collect heads and not goals. Eze was the game\u2019s matchmaker, and he led the team that caused what looked like a panicked rush for Arsenal, who even subbed in defenders just to defend their one-goal lead.<\/p>\n

\"Eze
Eze played a phenomenal game for Crystal Palace in their hard-fought match against Arsenal in EPL GW 2. Source: Sun.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tomiyasu Sent Off<\/h2>\n

Arsenal\u2019s Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off in the 67th minute, after being shown a second yellow card, which automatically meant he\u2019d be shown the red card and sent off the pitch. Tomiyasu\u2019s first yellow was as a result of time-wasting where he delayed making a throw-in. New Premier League rules now penalize time-wasting. Takehiro\u2019s second yellow card was a result of a sloppy tackle.<\/p>\n

Just by a Whisker: Arteta\u2019s 10-Man Arsenal Runs with It but Just But<\/h2>\n

Mikel Arteta got away with this one, but just by a whisker. Arteta and his men need to pull up their socks. Least not because they\u2019ve resorted to relying on penalty shots to gain an advantage. Arteta needs to sharpen his squad, especially now that he has new players who could do very well if he hones their skills.<\/p>\n

\"Mikel
Mikel Arteta had a tough time in the second half keeping Crystal Palace at bay. Source: F.l.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kai Havertz and Declan Rice Make Some Impact<\/h2>\n

Good examples of new Arsenal signees that could do really well are Kai Havertz, who was signed from Chelsea in late June<\/a>, and Declan Rice, who transferred to Arsenal from West Ham in mid-July<\/a>. Havertz, despite not having been fully utilized at Chelsea, and Rice who did well in West Ham, could be standout players in Arsenal if Arteta is keen to give them the chance.<\/p>\n

\"Kai
Kai Havertz was transferred to Arsenal from Chelsea back in June. Source: F.l.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Havertz had some impact in yesterday\u2019s game, even as he did not get a chance to make a detailed display of his prowess. Declan Rice, on the other hand, was more entuned to the team and made a fair contribution to the team. It is, therefore, upon Arteta to know how to organize and deploy his team for the maximum impact of all players, especially the very best players in the squad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal came out guns blazing in their EPL GW 2 match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, only to end up fighting to maintain their lead as the match ended. Arsenal beat Crystal Palace a measly 1-0, in what was a hugely entertaining match, especially in the second half. Odegaard to the Rescue Martin Odegaard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4396,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAoww8LBDA:productID":"","_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"uix_meta_title":"","uix_meta_description":"","uix_canonical_url":"","_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_bookmark_settings":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_review":[],"enable_review":"","type":"","name":"","summary":"","brand":"","sku":"","good":[],"bad":[],"score_override":"","override_value":"","rating":[],"price":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"federate","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-4395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mania-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4395"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maniainc.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=4395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}