Arsenal 2 (Sokratis 7, Luiz 9) v Crystal Palace 2 (Milivojevic 32 (pen), Ayew 52), played on Sunday 27 October 2019 at The Emirates Stadium, attendance 60,345.
In their 100th F.A. Premier League London derby Palace came away from an unhappy Emirates Stadium with a creditable 2-all draw. Unhappy because Arsenal had surrendered an early 2 goal lead, and substituted their Captain Granit Xhaka, after the Eagles equalizer. Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ headed opener came from the excellent corner by Nicolas Pepe, who repeated the assist for fellow defender David Luiz. The turning point in the game was on 32 minutes when Wilfried Zaha fell in the penalty area under a challenge from Calum Chambers. Initially Zaha was booked for simulation, but V.A.R. review showed Chambers had tripped Zaha, whose yellow card was immediately cancelled by a professional Martin Atkinson. Ice cool Luka Milivojevic scored from the spot, his 5th goal in 6 games against Arsenal. Seven minutes into the second half Jordan Ayew headed in James McArthur’s simple cross for Palace’s equalizer.
The remaining 40 minutes or so were not without incident! First Granit Xhaka, who had been voted Captain by his team-mates this season, but does not enjoy the same popularity with some fans, reacted angrily to their reception at his 61st minute substitution. Then on 83 minutes Arsenal appeared to have scored a winner from Sokratis again, but this time V.A.R. spotted a foul by Chambers on Milivojevic in the build up to disallow the goal. Who was the villain: Xhaka, Chambers, or V.A.R. which has already overturned 26 decisions in 100 games this season, including 16 goals, one previous one by Arsenal, or no one?
Looking ahead while Chelsea are away to Watford (if that is a PLDs match), there will also be an “historic first” North London derby when Tottenham Hotspur Women entertain Arsenal Women at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Barclays F.A. Women’s Super League(W.S.L.). Last weekend Chelsea Women came from behind to beat West Ham Women 1-3 and top the table with 13 points from 5 games. Incidentally Liverpool Women are bottom with 1 point from five!
Until next time, enjoy your football, Andrew at PLDS.