Arsenal Defy Red Card To Win Crystal Palace
Arsenal defeated Crystal Palace 1-0 in their Monday night English Premier League (EPL) clash.
The match, played at the Selhurst Park, was decided by an Odergaard second half penalty goal.
Arsenal were fairly on top of proceedings, with Saka coming close early on, but the first big chance came in the 30th minute when Nketiah drove into the box, but, from an acute angle, he’s shot hit the bar.
Jordan Ayew for Palace then had a penalty shout that was waived away by the Referee.
Another glorious chance feel Nketiah’s was when, in the 36th minute, Declan Rice played Nketiah through, but his lob goes over Sam Johnstone went over the bar.
Odergaard tried his luck from long range in the 42nd minute but his shot was parried over for the bar. That was, surprisingly, Arsenal’s first shot on target.
Despite Crystal Palace pushing in the closing stages, the first half finished 0-0.
The second half started on a slightly slow pace until Arsenal got a penalty after Nketiah was played through goal and brought down by Johnstone in the 52nd minute.
Odergaard stepped up and scored for Arsenal from the resultant spot kick.
Ayew them hit the side netting for Palace 2 minutes later.
The game was slowing down by now with both teams not really creating any clear-cut chances.
The game suddenly came alive in the 67th minute, but for all the wrong reasons, as Tomiyasu saw red for a soft foul on Jordan Ayew, Arsenal, a man light.
Forward, Martinelli, moved to left fullback for the time being.
He was eventually taken off in the 70th, with defender, Gabriel, taking his place.
Arsenal now had over 20mins to hold on to their lead.
Crystal Palace had a penalty shout when Eze dribbled in the box and seemed to have been brought down by Rice and Partey in the 72nd minute, but the Referee waived it off and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) agreed.
From them on, Palace kept up the pressure on the Arsenal goal mouth, with Arteta bringing on more defensive reinforcement, like Zinchenko, to shore up the defence.
The Referee awarded 7 minutes of added time.
It was in the 6th minute of stoppage time that Palace almost leveled, after a cross bounced off the heads of a couple of Palace players on the box and on to the path of Left fullback, Trick Mitchell, who blazed high and wide.
The Referee called time on proceedings, with Arsenal winning the tie 1-0
