The Gunners survived a late fightback to leave Selhurst Park with a WINbut their manager believes his side were fortunate after Glenn Murray went close to an equaliser.Santi Cazorla opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Pape Souare lost possession and was adjudged to have fouled Danny Welbeck inside the area, while Olivier Giroud scored on the stroke of half-time to give the visitors control.
Arsene Wenger admitted that Arsenal were "lucky" to escape from Selhurst Park with a 2-1 WIN
over Crystal Palace after the hosts went inches away from completing an incredible injury-time comeback.Crystal Palace rallied in the second half with Glenn Murray scoring in injury-time before his headed effort hit the post and rebounded into the arms of Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina in the closing seconds.
Wenger said his side were guilty of letting the Eagles back into the game, telling his post-match press conference: "It was about fighting and playing and Crystal Palace are a team who play with a big intensity. For us it was important to resist and we did that well, and at 2-0 at half-time we came out of the second half much more to protect our advantage, to continue to play and put them under pressure.
LINEUP, BOOKINGS (4) & SUBSTITUTIONS (6)
Crystal Palace Arsenal
01 Speroni 13 Ospina
02 Ward 21 Chambers (Booked)
06 Dann 04 Mertesacker
27 Delaney 06 Koscielny
40 Souaré 18 Monreal
28 Ledley (Ameobi - 80' ) 34 Coquelin (Booked)
11 Zaha 19 Cazorla
42 Puncheon 23 Welbeck (Gibbs - 77' )
22 Mutch (Booked) 11 Özil (Rosicky - 76' )
16 Gayle (Murray - 79' ) 17 Sánchez (Gabriel - 89' )
10 Campbell (Bolasie - 57' ) 12 Giroud (Booked)
Substitutes Substitutes
04 Hangeland 01 Szczesny
07 Bolasie 03 Gibbs
13 Hennessey 05 Gabriel
15 Jedinak 07 Rosicky
17 Murray 10 Wilshere
23 Ameobi 14 Walcott
34 Kelly 39 Bellerin
Ref: Mark Clattenburg
Att: 24,721
"We missed goal number THREE
and of course they came back to 2-1, we were a bit lucky, a bit fortunate, but overall we did triumph and it was in the end a very important win for us.Asked whether he thought his players had switched off in the final five minutes of the game, Wenger replied: "Certainly. You know in the Premier League it's never done, especially at 2-0, and with that effort [hitting the post] it was fortunate."
Wenger was then asked whether Welbeck was actually inside the box when fouled by Souare, to which he responded: "I don't know." As for whether the striker was offside during the build-up to Giroud's strike, he said: "I don't know if he was offside or not. I think as well Giroud when he went through in the second half, he was not offside, and I am sure of that.
"I believe that the players know they switched maybe a little bit too early, but our central defenders played very well today and a very direct and physical game at the back. Overall at the end of the day it is THREEpoints in a place like that.
"We now know we have played TWO
more away games and it could be down to how strong we are at home, and let's just continue to fight and be tight until the end."Palace manager Alan Pardew, meanwhile, bemoaned key decisions going against his side following the defeat, which still leaves the Eagles five points off the relegation zone.
Pardew believes referee Mark Clattenburg and his officials made incorrect calls on both Arsenal goals, saying: "We took a tactical decision to take the game to Arsenal today. The first goal is a mistake by Pape [Souare] and yet the call was tough on us because it looked like the incident happened outside the box.
"We found ourselves 1-0 down but we continued with our gameplan, I'm pleased with our reaction - it was probably the best we've played since I’ve been manager and I include our victories in that.
"The second goal is offside - that should be made, that call. I've got more of a problem with the second goal than the first. It's a minute before half-time and you've got to GET
that call right.
"Still, second half we continued with our gameplan, stayed on the front foot and took the game to Arsenal. The second ONE
[Murray's effort] that hits the post and goes in the keeper’s hands summed up our day really, it just wasn't to be."What can I say? It's difficult because I'm asking this team to play a bit more than they used to, but within that team there were some great individual performances.
"Yannick Bolasie couldn’t have done any more… he was fantastic. If there is ONE
criticism of us today, we should have taken the shot earlier, particularly in the first half - it's our final moment in that box that we need to improve. We're not far away from being a decent team."Reflecting on Murray spurning a chance for an equaliser at the death, Pardew added: "It was a fast cross, I actually thought the spin on the ball was going to take it into the net, but it's gone straight into the keeper's hands."
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