We don’t need you
No Sanchez, no problem as Arsenal put pitiful Palace in the doghouse
HIS shadow hung over the game before the kick-off and his image still gazed down upon The Emirates. Flanked by his two golden labradors, Atom and Humber, a poster of Alexis Sanchez had not yet been removed from its position high above the second tier of the stadium. ‘Good Boys,’ the words that flanked the picture said.
As football’s latest transfer shaggy dog story crawled towards its end with Sanchez somewhere in limbo between Arsenal and Manchester United — maybe on the M6, maybe at a hotel, maybe at a private hospital having a medical — the club he is leaving behind found the perfect antidote to the disquiet that still rumbles on over his departure.
In the climate of unease that has hung over Arsenal and their manager Arsene Wenger for so long, confirmation of losing one of the club’s best players to a leading Premier League rival could have been a recipe for revolt if this match against a Crystal Palace team still fighting to lift itself clear of the relegation zone had gone badly. But it did not go badly. In fact, it went the opposite of badly.
Arsenal produced a first-half performance of such beauty and fluency, of breathtaking exchanges of passes, clever flicks, unselfish passes and blurring movement, that it was hard to believe they are only sixth in the Premier League, a club that has become a byword for under-achievement.
Inspired by Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere, they were 4-0 up inside 22 minutes. Ozil was an absolute joy to watch. Wilshere was at the heart of everything. Nacho Monreal was unstoppable, while Alexandre Lacazette scored a quite superb goal that finished off a quite superb move.
Sanchez may be just a memory now but for 90 minutes at least, everything seemed all right with the world in this corner of north London.
Some even suggested that maybe Sanchez wouldn’t be missed, that maybe he was part of Arsenal’s problem. He was never exactly a team player, they said.
It was noticeable, certainly, that all the Arsenal players celebrated together after their goals, which wasn’t always the case when Sanchez was involved.
But the idea that they will improve without him is probably wishful thinking.
There is still an expectation that both Henrikh Mkhitaryan and PierreEmerick Aubameyang will arrive before the end of January to bolster morale but against Palace, frankly, there was no need to think of them. The resources Arsenal already had at their disposal were more than enough to dispose of Roy Hodgson’s hitherto resurgent team. Hodgson was full of praise for Arsenal after the match. He said it had not occurred to him that they might be at a low ebb after the Sanchez imbroglio. ‘I always prepare for the best of the opposition,’ Hodgson said. ‘I never believe the stuff about how it might be a good time to face a team. With the quality of players they have, they are capable of producing the kind of scintillating spell that they delivered today.’ Arsenal had won only two of their previous nine league games but they took the lead after six minutes when Granit Xhaka swung a corner over from the left. James McArthur allowed Monreal an unimpeded run and the Arsenal left back met it on the full and nodded it past Wayne Hennessey. The goalkeeper’s first touch had been to tip a shot from Alex Iwobi over the bar. His second was to pick the ball out of the back of the net. Four minutes later, Arsenal extended their lead. More sloppy defending from Palace allowed Monreal to shepherd the ball to the byline, take his time, look up, pick his spot and slide it across goal to Iwobi, who had the simplest of tasks to poke it into the net. Palace were shambolic. Three minutes later, Arsenal were further ahead. Another Xhaka corner was met at the back post by Monreal who, once again, was unencumbered by anything resembling marking. Monreal hooked the ball back across goal and Laurent Koscielny bundled it over the line.
Arsenal did not let up. Their next goal, midway through the half, was a thing of beauty. Ozil picked the ball up in front of a crowd of players on the edge of the Palace box. He clipped a pass to Wilshere, ran on for the return and then delivered a delicious flick into the path of Lacazette. The France striker curled his shot towards the far corner and Hennessey could not keep it out.
Monreal’s inspired afternoon came to a sad end 10 minutes before half-time when he limped to the sideline. A performance that had featured a goal and two assists in the space of seven minutes ended with him walking disconsolately to the bench and indicating that he had damaged his hamstring. He got the ovation his contribution deserved.
There was, comparatively, a lull in the action until nearly an hour of the game had passed. Arsenal might have had a fifth when Iwobi outpaced James Tomkins with embarrassing ease but Hennessey spread himself well to block the shot. Then Palace finally created a chance of their own.
It came from a quite magnificent ball from Bakary Sako, who curled his pass around Shkodran Mustafi and into the path of Christian Benteke, who was left with Petr Cech to beat.
Cech rushed out to meet him, Benteke took a touch to steady himself and then lashed his shot straight at the goalkeeper. It cannoned off his elbow and away to safety.
Palace did salvage a little pride in the closing stages when their captain, Luka Milivojevic, took the ball on his chest in the box at a corner and volleyed a neat finish beyond Cech.
It was a consolation for Palace but it was not enough to summon the ghost of Sanchez to haunt the Arsenal supporters. The only Good Boys they cared about yesterday were the players who brushed Palace aside with such elan.