Palace vs Arsenal: let the Wenger-Pardew marriage flourish

As it has been for the recent past (with Spuds match being an exception) the mighty Gunners have managed to rake up maximum points and scrapping out important wins. Giroud's double strike in two minutes, shortly before the half hour mark was enough to see off giant slayers, Boro and book a quarter final berth at Old Trafford. The win meant that Arsenal are now through to the FA Cup Quarter Finals for the 11th time under Wenger.

It was all about acute fluency, the true meaning of Wenger ball and sheer class culminated by sexy soccer, in Arsenal's opener which every single player had a hand on it prior to Giroud's slick finish, courtesy of Gibb's sharp cut back down the left.


On the second goal, like Le Boss put it, we can credit it to both Sanchez and Giroud's sharpness and their reaction to a deflated Boro defense, which saw Alexis take a quick corner which the scorer had to outpace his markers to score a delightful volley to seal Arsenal's comfortable win.



Yes Giroud scored his 8th and 9th goals of the season in 16 starts and yes Cazorla's tiny feet were able to exude those rare magical moments which in most cases looked like the travelling fans had paid to just watch the wonder boy live on stage.

But Ozil was the star man! the German play maker, playing at a more central role on a day which saw Captain Cazorla deployed deep in midfield.

Ozil like never before, had more touches in our defense than on his preferred attacking sections. He was Santi's best helper assisting in defensive duties as well as putting the visitors into unwanted dancing routines with his powerful and skillful left foot. His performance was so good that Boro coach, Aikor Akaranka , Ozil's former coach at Madrid had to beg for his shirt, as a souvenir for his son! yes the genius is back and we are so blessed that his confidence is now at high levels especially when we need him the most!

Another star performer was Kieran Gibbs. The young England international impressed from the off and his great game reading once again served us right, earning him a well deserved clean sheet in the progress.


Gibbs showed real response after seeing Nacho Monreal running away with his starting berth, with a well laid assist and good forward forays! It is so tantalizing to see the once obvious starter embracing Nacho's competition and this will only be beneficial for the club in the long run!

Alongside Gibbo was Gabriel Paulista who was making his long awaited debut. His defensive displays were near perfect that no one even noticed his poor communication skills. HAHA. The two defenders played important roles which saw Boro wait till the 39th minute to register their first shot.

The serious faced Brazilian made a remarkable tackle after Arsenal's back four were caught sleeping and of course winning a yellow card on his first match in England wasn't a bad way to welcome the fighter.

Let the Wenger-Pardew marriage begin!

Alan Pardew, Harry Redknap and Moyes will go down as Wenger's best 'baes' with the trio having surrendered to the French man more times than the times he's had to surrender to Mou and Fergie combined. Pardew was Wenger's best customer whether home or away, the Gooners never quite noted the difference since it's something close to WWWWWWWW and above. 

A fact which saw Pardew himself call for the renaming of Emirates stadium to 'Arsene Wenger Stadium'. Yes clear revelation of how their marriage has blossomed since they first set eyes on each other.

On Saturday, Giroud has a huge chance of extending his commendable goal scoring form since it's a London derby, and the tall guy himself had the pleasure of scoring at will in the capital in his first two seasons. Should Giroud score, the goal will land him at the half century goal mark, having scored 49 times in his 107 games, racking up 27 assists in the process.

The last time the two teams met, Arsenal salvaged a last minute winner courtesy of an Aaron Ramsey goal in a come from behind dramatic win.

What's enticing is the fact that the last time we traveled to Palace, we painted the Palace red with goals from Arteta and Giroud winning us the match.

Will there be late drama at Selhurst with the re energized Palace team now looking better under Pardew? Will Chamakh haunt his former employers? well I have no reason to worry, numbers don't lie and we are getting the fourth spot this weekend! #COYG!!

TEAM NEWS: 

Arsenal have the privilege of welcoming Jack Wilshere back into the team after a month out following an ankle surgery. However Bellerin will have late tests to determine his availability while the good news is the Ox is back in full training and is not expected to play any part in our trip to the Selhurst Stadium.

MATCH FACTS:


-Arsenal have won seven and lost none of the last 10 meetings with Crystal Palace in all competitions.
-The Eagles have won just seven of their 29 Barclays Premier League home London derbies.
-The Gunners are unbeaten in their last 11 visits to Selhurst Park to play Palace in all competitions (W6 D5).
-Theo Walcott has scored seven goals in his last seven Premier League starts.
-Arsenal have conceded just five first half goals in their last 17 Premier League games and three of those came in one match (against Stoke City).
-Arsenal have won three of their six Premier League London derbies this season and all by a 2-1 scoreline. However, they have yet to keep a clean sheet in a capital clash.
-Only Swansea (12) have dropped more points from wining positions than Arsenal (10) away from home in the Premier League this season.
-Arsenal have won just one of 12 Premier League games after falling behind this season and that was against Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.
-Crystal Palace have won just three of their last 14 Premier League games at Selhurst Park (W3 D4 L7).

-Palace form in Premier League: DWWLWD

-Arsenal form in Premier League: LWWWLW

Twitter/IG: @bryoshavin