Shkodran Mustafi coolly slotted the visitors ahead in the first half before former Spurs man Andros Townsend levelled the scores when the Crystal Palace pressure was mounting
ARSENE WENGER’S memory might be going but his appetite for a scrap remains as sharp as ever.
Age Concern probably wouldn't approve of two OAPs going toe to toe on a freezing winter's night.
But football’s oldest bosses with a combined age of 138 showed that they are not ready for the pipe and slippers just yet.
Wenger, a sprightly 68, equalled Sir Alex Ferguson’s 810-game record as a Premier League manager with his 468th Arsenal victory.
Seventy-year-old Roy Hodgson did his level best to deny the young whipper-snapper the victory he craved to mark his latest milestone.
Fergie was 71 when he finally called it a day as Manchester United boss but there is no sign of these pugnacious pensioners following him into retirement just yet.
Yet you have to wonder just how more of this torture Wenger can put himself through after another 90 minutes suffering on the sidelines.
Alexis Sanchez’s two goals in four second-half minutes finally settled matters for the visitors and ensured that they are no longer closer to bottom of the table Swansea than they are to Premier League leaders Manchester City.
But it was far straightforward from a team who remain sixth in the table and still 23 points adrift of Pep Guardiola’s Invincibles.
Jose Mourinho has been derided for claiming that £300million is no longer enough in the transfer market for a team with ambitions of winning the Premier League.
And his comments predictably generated little sympathy from Wenger, who was quick to point out that he has been out-spent by his title rivals for years.
But that simply highlights the difference between a manager who is still desperate to win major trophies and another who gave up competing for the top honours a long time ago.
Wenger’s greatest accomplishment these past ten years has been conditioning his employers to believe that it is unrealistic to expect Arsenal to win the League or the Champions League.
Just like the manager, the directors have also settled for a top four finish and the occasional Cup run.
Wenger had declared on the eve of this match that he would be playing with four at the back for the foreseeable future.
Yet just 24 hours later he had clearly forgotten what he had said and reverted to a back three.
INTERACTIVE STATS - CLICK on the categories to find out how the teams fared
That meant an unexpected recall for Calum Chambers, his first Premier League appearance in an Arsenal shirt since the 4-3 defeat by Liverpool on the opening day of last season.
It was only after April’s dreadful 3-0 defeat at Selhurst Park that Wenger had instigated the change in defensive shape.
And he was clearly wary of history repeating itself against a Palace team unbeaten in their previous eight games, their best ever run in the Premier League.
The Eagles have been playing with such confidence lately that they are virtually unrecognisable as the team who lost their first seven fixtures without scoring a single goal.
With Christian Benteke returning from suspension to lead their attack, there was never any question of them simply sitting back and getting everyone behind the ball.
Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend were clearly under orders to get at Arsenal’s wing-backs and ask early questions of their nervous opponents.
INTERACTIVE LINE-UPS– CLICK on a player’s number below to see their stats
Yet their bold approach left them vulnerable to an Arsenal team who were always going to dominate possession.
And they were made to pay for allowing the visitors to get so comfortable when they fell behind to Shkodran Mustafi’s 24th minute goal.
Mesut Ozil’s pass to Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal’s £52million record signing the opportunity to turn inside Jeffrey Schlupp and launch a powerfully struck shot.
Palace keeper Julian Speroni did well to beat away Lacazette’s effort but was powerless to prevent Mustafi from sweeping the follow-up inside his near post with an impressively assured finish.
Lacazette almost doubled Arsenal’s lead after jinking his way past three defenders and Ozil’s surging run and lay-off was just beyond the reach of Hector Bellerin as the Gunners looked to turn the screw.
It was all too much for the petulant Zaha, who was booked for berating referee Michael Oliver as the team’s left the pitch at half-time and sarcastically applauded the official when the yellow card was brandished in his direction.
But whatever the wily Hodgson said to his star player during the interval clearly worked.
For within four minutes of the restart, the fired-up Zaha laid on the perfect cut-back for Townsend to sweep Palace back onto level terms.
Arsenal, though, were not going to ruin their manager’s big night and regained the lead in the 62nd minute when Lacazette pounced on Schlupp’s weak header and teed up Sanchez for an unstoppable shot inside Speroni’s near post.
Four minutes later the Chilean superstar pounced again, killing Jack Wilshere’s perfect pass with his first touch and rolling the ball past the advancing Speroni with his second.
James Tomkins briefly raised Palace hopes when he headed in from an 89th minute corner, but it wasn’t enough to halt Arsenal.
Sanchez will be free to start negotiating with foreign clubs from Monday and shows no sign of extending his contract.
Wenger had allowed him to return to South America over Christmas in a desperate attempt to get himself into the striker’s good books.
But Sanchez wants to win serious silverware before his hangs up his boots and he knows he is not going to do that with a manager who has settled for second-best.
