Arsenal 2–0 Crystal Palace - 5 Things We Learned

I lost track of how many columnists I saw predict this game to finish 2-0 to the Arsenal. Yours truly included. "Home-banker", "Arsenal's easy one ahead of a month of mammoth matches", were but some of many pre-match summations for this one, which proved to be very much apt. So what did we learn from it? Not much we didn't already know, to be honest. Arsenal got what they needed and expected to get and Palace came away with their dignity and are now ready for the dog fight which should see them escape the drop.

5. Arsenal Have A Squad That Can Deal With High Profile Injuries

This was a match that Arsenal fans would have been seeing as a 'banker' ahead of a massive month. However, how many times over the past few seasons have they come away from games with teams in and mid and lower reaches of the table without the full spoils. Arsenal have had a strong team over the past few years but not a squad. Young players would come in to fill for injuries and suspensions and the equilibrium of the team would fall to pieces. Yesterday, they were missing a quartet of world class midfielders: Flamini, Ramsey, Wilshire and Walcott. These are first team players that you simply cannot replace. However, unlike in previous years, Wenger's boys have come of age and he's made smart signings of players who can come in and do a job. This will prove vital in the run in; Arsenal are currently fighting on three months. If they continue in a pursuit for a treble, come April with games mounting up, Wenger will be forced to rotate.