Arsenal received high praise for their performance against Crystal Palace on Friday night, a game where the Gunners came out 2-0 winners.
According to former Aston Villa and England striker Gabby Agbonlahor, Arsenal were so good they reminded him of the stunning Barcelona side of 2011 managed by Pep Guardiola.
Agbonlahor said on talkSPORT: “Arsenal have shown me the best 45 minutes of football this season, out of all the games we have seen. Last night and today.
“They were unbelievable. Gabriel Jesus was so sharp, [Oleksandr] Zinchenko on the ball. Arsenal were playing like Barcelona of 2011. Yes or no?”
The ex England international’s co presenter, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara perhaps unsurprisingly, did not agree with Agbonlahor’s claim.
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O’Hara replied: “Did you not watch Tottenham in the second half?” To which Agbonlahor replied with: “They played against like... [you had] the centre-half scoring own goals that he could have taken a touch and ran out with.”
During their match against Palace, Arsenal showed glimpses of what they are capable of as they produced an energetic first half against Patrick Vieira’s side.
In the forefront of the positive performance was new signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Brazilian striker Jesus was looking sharp from the get go, although he didn’t score he was influential in helping the Gunners get all three points.
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Gabriel Martinelli put the visitors ahead after 20 minutes, in the second half, Palace had a couple chances to draw level but failed to take any. Eventually, Arsenal forced a second in the 85th minute after Bukayo Saka’s cross was diverted into his own net by Marc Guehi.
After the game, Mikel Arteta spoke about his team’s performance.
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He told Sky Sports: “I’m really pleased with winning, getting the three points and a clean sheet against a really difficult opponent in a tough place where they really got their people going.”
“As we expected we were going to have tough periods during the match, but we showed great resilience to get through them.”
Arteta added: “You need the right balance because if you come short in terms of physicality in this game, you're going to be exposed. To have players at the back of the right size is really important in these kinds of matches. That's the resilience we need to win football matches and see them through.”
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“Aaron Ramsdale did incredibly well from the one-on-one and won the game for us.”
Arteta will look to continue their good start to the season when they welcome Leicester City to the Emirates next weekend.
Topics: Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Barcelona, Pep Guardiola
Marcus Chan