A look at how Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta and Crystal Palace’s Mile Jedinak defined their sides’ performances.
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta racked up an impressive 100 successful passes as he helped his side to a narrow 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Despite almost relentless second half dominance from the Gunners, it took until the final minutes, for the irrepressible Aaron Ramsey to score a close range winner.
Spanish midfielder Arteta made two key passes as he tried to create opportunites for the Gunners, putting opposing counterpart Mile Jedinak under pressure.
The Crystal Palace man made 102 tackles last season, more than any midfielder in the Premier League, and the Australian offered a masterclass in shielding his back four at The Emirates.
| Possession Percentage | Total Scoring Att | Blocked Scoring Att | Corners | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 76.00 | 14 | 3 | 9 |
| Crystal Palace | 24.00 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
The pressure from Arteta’s Arsenal prevented Jedinak from getting on the ball, able to make just 19 successful passes over the 90 minutes.
He outclassed Arteta from a defensive perspective, making 11 combined interceptions and tackles to five, yet this can accordingly be put down to Arsenal’s superior possession, in comparison to Palace.
No two players from either side in the same position offered passing statistics quite as dramatically different, and had Ramsey not converted the late chance, Jedinak and Palace’s heroics would be getting even more acclaim.
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