There’s only one team in the Premier League that can be 0-2 up at the 44th minute mark and be 3-2 down minutes later to an Andy Carroll hat-trick: Arsenal.
It was one of those days at the Boleyn Ground when Arsenal summed their season up within a few moments of a spectacularly maddening spectacle.
One moment they were riding high as Mesut Ozil seamlessly stitched one pass with another, and they had been cut into specks and made an absolute mess of, the other.
It’s probably a good thing that Arsenal at least had luck on their side or it could have been a proper hammering.
Fortunately for Arsenal, there’s not a single fixture that could be as physically demanding or as helter-skelter as the previous one with Crystal Palace being the first of the three struggling sides that the Gunners will lock horns against over the next ten days.
Arsene Wenger will no doubt derive a lot of pleasure out of the fact that his old foe Alan Pardew’s side have managed to earn just 8 points in 14 matches in 2016, the only win being against Norwich City a week ago.
What’ll make the job even easier for the Gunners is the fact that Crystal Palace are more committed and concerned about their FA Cup semi-final against Watford at Wembley next week, which is undoubtedly more important for the Glazers who won’t mind sacrificing three points for something bigger.
But, notwithstanding the frame of mind Crystal Palace will arrive in North London with, Wenger’s team have still got to put in a solid performance and ensure there are no slip-ups from their side, as that’s something which, in Arsenal’s case, should ideally be happening for Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City.
Even though The Eagles would be adamant on taking half-measures, there’ll possibly be a few threats from Wilfried Zaha, Connor Wickham, “that man” Emmanuel Adebayor and Yannick Bolasie who are all forever ready to catch the defenders napping.
Apart from that, however, there isn’t much to be wary of for the hosts. Three convincing points there for the taking.
Quotes:
“West Ham have beaten many big teams at home and I feel we were not happy with the result [last weekend] because we conceded three goals when we were 2-0 up,” Arsene Wenger said. “On the other hand, we have shown resilience to come back to 3-3 when we were in a desperate position.
“For everybody it is tight, and we have to look behind us because everybody is chasing. There can still be twists and turns until the end and everyone is fighting to put teams in front of us under pressure.
“We need a strong run at home now and I think that is what we want to do. It is perceived that the championship is over but I don’t think that completely even if Leicester are in a strong position. I think we have to continue to fight until the last minute of the season.
“Crystal Palace should now be completely safe but they still might need one or two points. I think they have nearly got out of their relegation problems.
“They have a lot of potential offensively with individuals like Bolasie, Zaha, and Adebayor. They have a big offensive force. We need to rectify the fact we conceded goals at West Ham and come back strong defensively.”
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