Niall McDonald hands out the marks
Roberto: Resounding cheers for his first catch after 22 mins and first save on 41; excellent distribution, no disasters – a positive home debut 6
Fredericks: Attacked with purpose before the break, covering the entire right-side on his own most of the time 7
Diop: Palace carried very little threat and Diop was often left covering empty space behind Ogbonna 6
Ogbonna: Will be very frustrated having prevented Ayew from having any impact at all before the late winner 7
Cresswell: Defended with discipline against Zaha, ably supported by Anderson 6
Rice: Streets ahead of one of his predecessors Kouyate – not sure if the handball was careless or unavoidable but these days it’s a penalty either way 6
Noble: Our slower, more patient style of football certainly suits the skipper; lack of pace less of an issue these days 7
Lanzini: A busy start, dropping deep to collect the ball and looking to create; I wonder if he’s still not fully match-fit 6
Yarmolenko: Another strong display, was a shame he was subbed as we missed his impetus up-front 7
Anderson: Standout player for me today; getting better with every game 8
Haller: Made up for a quiet first-half by putting away the finest team goal I think I’ve seen us score 6
Subs
Fornals: Not at the same level as Lanzini, but I think Pellegrini’s doing the right thing keeping him involved and getting minutes under his belt 5
Wilshere: Looked a little exposed as the game opened up and found no runners around him; 2 deft pieces of skill nearly created good chances 5
Zabaleta: A late, no-nonsense cameo 5
Anderson standout player what game was you watching
Maybe he saw a replay of the Norwich game😁
8 seems generous for Anderson,needs to start scoring a goal or 2. he seems to have forgotten how its done.Cannot expect Haller and Yarmolenko to do it every week.
Hallers quiet first half is entirely down to our inability to get the ball to him in dangerous positions and leaving him isolated when he does finally get the ball. He’s having to come deeper and deeper or out wide just to get a touch. Ran his heart out again today chasing 4 defenders on his own. Deserved a better mark. God knows what mark Anderson would get if he actually had a good 90 minutes. He was nowhere near an 8. Rice was however.