Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Crystal Palace: 5 things we learned – Alexis Sanchez the difference

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal celebrates as he scores their third goal with Hector Bellerin during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 28: Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal celebrates as he scores their third goal with Hector Bellerin during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 28: Andros Townsend of Crystal Palace (L) celebrates as he scores their first and equalising goal with team mate Jeffrey Schlupp during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 28: Andros Townsend of Crystal Palace (L) celebrates as he scores their first and equalising goal with team mate Jeffrey Schlupp during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park on December 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

3. This wasn’t bad defending, but bad game management

Arsenal have been charged with some truly terrible defending throughout the seasons. When they are in control of games, they have been known to let their control slip because of some basic defensive mistakes. In this game, they also nearly lost control. But it was not because of poor defending necessarily.

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Now, I am not saying that Arsenal defended well. There were some moments of positional missteps, sleeping to the danger, and maddeningly poor clearances. But, at the end of it all, Palace had just two shots on target. It just happened to be the case that they also scored two goals.

That, though, does not mean that Arsenal are exempt from criticism. While their defending may not have been quite as naive and green as previous second-half slumps, their game management was extremely poor. Misplaced passes at crucial moments, allowing themselves to be dispossessed early, a failure to keep the game tight when control was slipping. These were all mistakes that were painfully evident.

And this has been a problem for them on several occasions, and not just this season. Arsenal do not handle a lead well, particularly away from home. They could have very well dropped points on Thursday. From the position that they were in at half-time and midway through the second half, that would have been unacceptable.