Premier League: Gunners go top yet boss defiant over panic buy
AT EMIRATES STADIUM
ARSENAL 2 vs CRYSTAL PALACE 0
ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger watched his side reclaim top spot in the Premier League with another clinical home win yesterday, before coming out fighting over the bizarre loan signing of injured midfielder Kim Kallstrom.
Wenger revealed that Arsenal will pay nothing for the Swedish international until he has recovered from a back problem picked up while playing on a beach last week. The deadline-day arrival from Spartak Moscow may not be available until the middle of March.
“They [Spartak] pay the first six weeks’ wages,” Wenger said, admitting that the injury nearly put him off.
“I would not have signed him if we’d had two or three more days to do something. [But] he has 108 caps for Sweden, and has played for seven or eight years in France – so I know him very well.”
Yesterday’s win over Crystal Palace, the Gunners’ sixth victorious London derby of the league season, puts them top at least until tonight when Manchester City host Chelsea.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain broke the deadlock two minutes after half-time, running onto Santi Cazorla’s chip and lifting the ball over goalkeeper Julian Speroni. And the 20-year-old finished a counter attack mid-way through the half, bursting from deep into the box before firing low into the far corner.
West Brom’s draw against Liverpool yesterday, with Victor Anichebe cancelling out Daniel Sturridge’s opener, means Arsenal will travel to Anfield on Saturday eight points clear of the Reds.