Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: Kieran Tierney a big miss as WIlfried Zaha has rare off-night against Gunners
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Kieran Tierney has shown over the past few weeks how valuable he is to Arsenal, and this match against Crystal Palace only reinforced that.
The Scot was absent for this 0-0 draw, with Arsenal explaining he had been left out as a precaution due to muscle tightness.
That was hardly a surprise given Tierney played all 120 minutes of Saturday’s FA Cup win over Newcastle, setting up a goal for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the dying moments.
In his place, Ainsley Maitland-Niles was given a chance to shine – but his performance only reinforced how important Tierney is to Arsenal.
Maitland-Niles struggled to get into the game, giving the ball away countless times in the first 20 minutes.
In fairness to the 23-year-old it doesn’t help he has been shunted around so much during his Arsenal career, playing left wing-back, central midfield and right-back. In his youth career days he played on the wing too.
At left-back against Palace, Maitland-Niles struggled to make an impact – clearly hampered by the fact he had to keep cutting back onto his right foot. When he did uses his left to swing in a cross, in the sixth minute, it sailed over the bar.
That summed up his night and you couldn’t help but feel the absence of Tierney. The Scot has been a revelation for Arsenal, becoming a cult hero in the process given his inability to feel the cold.
Tierney has strengthened the Gunners’ defence, but it was going forward where they missed him against Palace.
The 23-year-old has shown in recent weeks how he is lethal on the overlap, bombing past his winger and whipping in crosses.
That was missed against Palace and it showed us how there is clearly a drop-off in quality for Arsenal when it comes to cover at left-back.
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Bukayo Saka ended up finishing the game there, but such a solution feels hardly adequate when he has been Arsenal’s best attacking player in recent weeks. Food for thought for Mikel Arteta.
Ceballos and Xhaka impress as Partey returns
Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka will know Thomas Partey is breathing down their necks for a starting role, and they duly responded against Palace. The pair were arguably Arsenal’s best players on the night and they controlled the midfield for most of the game.
Partey’s return from injury is a huge boost for Arteta, particularly as the fixtures pile up, but Ceballos and Xhaka showed they have a role to play. We shouldn’t forget they were, of course, the duo who won Arsenal the FA Cup last season.
Ceballos was excellent in possession against Palace, opening up their defence with some lovely passing. Sadly there was no cutting edge ahead of him to make it count.
Xhaka, meanwhile, did the dirty work in defence. He mopped up attacks and broke up the play, all in a discipline and ordered fashion. That – as we know from history – is not always the case, but the Swiss was impressive tonight.
Zaha nullified and has rare off-night against Arsenal
Arsenal and Wilfried Zaha usually go together when it comes to writing headlines, but for once tonight they did not. The winger has long been a thorn in the Gunners’ side, particularly since he failed to move to Emirates Stadium in 2019 when Arsenal moved for Nicolas Pepe instead.
Zaha has seemingly had a point to prove since then, showing Arsenal what they are missing, but he was quiet tonight. Credit for that must go to Rob Holding and David Luiz, who marshalled him well. A good night for them, but a disappointing one for Zaha.
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