Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal: The Debrief

Arsenal get all three points from a London Derby

Two for two. Let’s dig into a match that is full of things to talk about.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal: The Graphics

Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal: The Debrief

14 - Shots by Arsenal before the red card, 7 for Crystal Palace

0 - Shots by Arsenal after the red card, 7 for Crystal Palace

33 - Touches in the box by Arsenal before the red card, 8 for Crystal Palace

0 - Touches in the box by Arsenal after the red card, 22 for Crystal Palace

192 - Touches in the final third by Arsenal before the red card, 64 for Crystal Palace

24 - Toucehs in the final third by Arsenal after the red card, 143 for Crytal Palace

37% - Percentage of passes in own half by Arsenal before the red card, 59% for Crystal Palace

46% - Percentage of passes in own half by Arsenal after the red card, 23% for Crystal Palace

Red Cards change games (well for most teams) and in this match it was no different.

Before the red card, Arsenal were playing well, in control and creating a solid amount of chances with things trending in a positive direction. With a 1 goal lead it looked like things were on track for potentially more for the visitors with the game state forcing Crystal Palace to take a few more chances and create space for Arsenal to attack.

But in the span of 7 minutes that all changed, with Takehiro Tomiyasu given two soft yellow cards in my opinion and massively changing the tilt of the game.

24 - The total number of seconds between the ball going out of play and when the card was shown to Takehiro Tomiyasu.

8 - The number of seconds that it was in his hands for the throw-in.

19 - The average time from the ball going out to a throw-in occurring in this match.

6 - Times where a throw-in took longer than 24 seconds that went unpunished with a yellow card for time wasting.

I am in favor of time wasting being punished and clamped down on. This felt like something where the referee looking to make an example out of Arsenal and was not out of line with anything else in the match. It also was a one-off situation where issues with the same or worse time went unpunished.

Before the goal Crystal Palace had throw-ins that took 27, 25, 22, and 22 seconds. All unpunished.

After the yellow card Arsenal had throw-ins that took 44(!!) and 24 seconds. Both went without punishment.

If this is really going to be the level, that’s fine with me. I think the punishment doesn’t really fit given that the time is added back on now at the end of matches but I do want this to be refereed consistently. Like so many of the early season points of emphasis, this one feels inconsistent and haphazard. I fully expect this to fade into the background by September with things going back to what things were previously.

Overall I am still going to read this as a pretty positive result for Arsenal, even if the amount of pushed back was concerning that happened.

The subs make a difference, even if they might have been a little slow

19 - Final third touches in the final 8 minutes after Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior came on. It was only 5 in the 23 minutes previously.

45% - Arsenal’s possession in the final 8 minutes, it was 25% in the 23 minutes previously.

0 - Shots allowed in the final 8 minutes

100% - The pass completion percentage for the subs in this game. Jorginho 10/10, Zinchenko 6/6, Kiwior 4/4, and Gabriel 1/1.

The red card probably screwed up with the substitution plans that Mikel Arteta planned but it still ended up with him in my view pulling the right levers. If you want to get a little picky, he might have been a little slow with the additions of fresh legs, especially Zinchenko who looked very impressive.

It was a little concerning just how quickly Arsenal retreated and abandoned their possession principles down a man. It was good to see the additions of the more technical players able to come on and change that. The ability to push out from the team’s own box made a huge difference and made stoppage time significantly less stressful.

Declan Rice takes a more central role

54 - Pass Completed, 3rd among Arsenal players at 90.0% with 109.7% Pass Efficiency

6 - Progressive Passes, tied for 1st among Arsenal players

4 - Long Passes Completed, 3rd among Arsenal players

80.0% - Long Pass Completion %

323.4 - Progressive Pass Distance

3 - Progressive Carries

0.81 - xG Buildup

0 - Turnovers

1 - Tackle being dribbled past once

1 - Interception

1 - Blocked Pass

4 - Ball Recoveries

2 - Blocked Shots, 1st among Arsenal players

1 - Aerial Duel Won of 7 contested

This match was an interesting twist on what was roughly the same formation as last weekend.

Against Forest Arsenal looked like they built in a 3-1-2-1-3 type formation with Rice and Odegaard on the same level in a diamond-type formation with Partey at the base.

In this match, both Tomiyasu and Partey played like more typical inverted fullbacks. They came inside to provide support but still occupied the outer two lanes more consistently, with White and Saliba more typically the two deepest players.

This put Rice more central and he seemed to take to this job quite well. He was significantly more progressive in this match and did a very good job of helping with the switches to move the Crystal Palace team from left to right and open space.

I think this is the vision for where things will go with Arsenal down the road but that we are seeing it in the second game of the season is a bit of a good surprise. The role that he and Partey will occupy will be very interesting to watch as the season progresses.