Three things we learned from Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal

Arsenal managed to register their first win of the Premier League season with a hard fought victory over Crystal Palace this afternoon.

The Gunners began the season with a humiliating 2-0 home loss to West Ham last week and were under immense pressure to immediately put that behind them with a victory at Selhurst Park.

Olivier Giroud put the Gunners 1-0 up with a lovely bicycle kick but Palace defender Joel Ward equalised shortly after with a superb drive from 20-yards out.

The Gunners retook the lead in the second half via a Damien Delaney own goal after Alexis Sanchez towered above Ward to head down an Ozil cross. Palace huffed and puffed to find an equaliser but couldn’t manage it as Arsenal held on.

It was a game full of action and controversy, with Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin lucky to have seen red for a number of bookable offences before Wenger was forced to bring him off midway through the second half.

But there was a lot to take away from what was a pulsating game at Selhurst Park. Here’s what we learned…

Arsenal still have a lot do this summer

Olivier Giroud may have scored his first Premier League goal in over 600 minutes – and what a goal it was as well – but Arsenal are clearly still short of a world class finisher.

Giroud is more than capable of scoring goals on his day, but he’s not a title winning goal scorer and Arsenal desperately need one if they’re to mount a serious challenge for the title this season.

Some fans were saying “who needs Karim Benzema” after Giroud’s first half goal. Well, Arsenal need Benzema.

And Wenger may need to invest in a more experience defensive midfielder after Coquelin’s last two performances. He was sloppy in the defeat to West Ham last weekend and today he was reckless – he could’ve been sent off about three times over had referee Lee Mason correctly showed him a yellow card for each of the fouls the midfielder gave away in midfield.

Get your cheque book out, Wenger.

Cabaye could well be the signing of the summer

Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye oozed class throughout the afternoon, but couldn’t prevent his side from losing.

The French midfielder’s decision to sign for Crystal Palace raised millions of eyebrows all over the world, but was is already clear after two games played is that Palace may have pulled off the signing of the summer.

He was tireless throughout, particularly in the first with a 94% pass accuracy, five interceptions, three shots and two tackles won.

The former Newcastle man looks set to have an immense season at Selhurst Park, and Palace already look like a far better side with him in it.

Ozil’s not a waste of time after all

Arsene Wenger was criticsed for starting Ozil when the line ups were announced this afternoon, with several Arsenal fans showing their frustration with the decision on Twitter prior to kick-off.

But it didn’t take long for the German World Cup winner to prove his doubters wrong as he provided the assist for Giroud’s opener and then put in a classy shift for the Gunners all afternoon.

The stats from the first half above tell you all you need to know about the midfielder’s performance at Selhurst Park.

So while he does look like a lazy figure at times, Ozil still has a positive impact on his side’s performance. He may have been outplayed by 16-year-old Reece Oxford last weekend, but today he proved why Wenger prefers to stick with him.

If he can continue making that kind of impact then the Gunners will be that little bit closer to being ready for a proper title challenge.