arsenal

RAMSEY  TO RESCUE  ARSENAL:    ARSENAL 2-1 CRYSTAL PALACE

Aaron Ramsey netted a stoppage-time winner to snatch a 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory for Arsenal over Crystal Palace.

The south London club were rocked by Tony Pulis's departure on the eve of the season on Friday, but they performed admirably before taking a shock lead at Emirates Stadium. Having comfortably absorbed waves of Arsenal pressure, Brede Hangeland headed Palace and their caretaker manager Keith Millen into a 35th-minute lead.

Laurent Koscielny levelled on the stroke of half-time, but the FA Cup holders looked like they would fail to capitalise, even as Palace winger Jason Puncheon departed for a second booking in the closing stages. But Ramsey was on hand to prod home from point-blank range after Mathieu Debuchy's shot had been saved.

Hangeland joined fellow defender Martin Kelly and striker Fraizer Campbell in making their Palace debuts, while Arsenal were unchanged from last weekend's FA Community Shield win over Barclays Premier League champions Manchester City.

Arsene Wenger's team tore forward during the early stages in the hope of capitalising on any vulnerability after a turbulent 24 hours for their London rivals. But the massed ranks of Palace defenders retained the hallmarks of their former manager and Ramsey's tumble under a challenge from Scott Dann for an optimistic eighth-minute penalty shout underscored a frustrating opening for the hosts.

Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni had to wait until the 29th minute to make his first save, parrying smartly behind after Jack Wilshere's drive bounced awkwardly. Marouane Chamakh tried to embarrass his former club with an audacious attempt from distance that Koscielny cleared to safety after goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had torn out of his area to challenge Campbell.

The incident appeared to unsettle Arsenal and they were still reeling when Hangeland shrugged off Alexis Sanchez and leapt above Koscielny at the near post to glance home Palace's first corner of the match.

But the roles were reversed in first-half stoppage time when Koscielny peeled away from Hangeland to nod Sanchez's floated free-kick beyond Speroni.

Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs limped off with a suspected hamstring problem to be replaced by Nacho Monreal seven minutes into the second half, by which time the match had settled back into the pattern established the last time it was level.

Sanchez drove at the Palace defence in the 68th minute and cleverly exchanged passes with Santi Cazorla, but Speroni's save was routine. Olivier Giroud and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain emerged from the bench as Arsenal pushed for a second goal, the former agonisingly close to turning home a close-range winner in the 75th minute. Arsenal's efforts appeared in vain until Ramsey's late intervention.

PREVIEW: FA COMMUNITY SHIELD

Arsenal and Manchester City have both stressed the importance of getting their campaign off to a winning start in Sunday's Community Shield.

The season's traditional curtain-raiser at Wembley represents a chance for clubs to clinch some silverware, while fans are afforded the opportunity to see new signings in competitive action for the first time.

Manchester City, victors over Chelsea two years ago at Villa Park, have recent experience of the occasion but Arsenal's last outing came back in 2005, on the back of their FA Cup triumph earlier that year. That proved to be the London club's last piece of silverware for nine years, before that barren run ended in May with a 3-2 extra-time triumph over Hull City.

City, though, are riding the crest of an even bigger wave after regaining the Premier League title that they had lost to bitter rivals Manchester United the season before. It provided a glorious climax to Manuel Pellegrini's first season in charge and the Chilean has underlined how seriously he and his squad are taking Sunday's clash.

"It is not a friendly match," he told the press. "It is an important game against an important team in Arsenal.

"Maybe both teams, Arsenal and our team, do not arrive in our best moment because both have a lot of players who have just arrived from the World Cup but I think it will be a very good game and important for both teams to win it."

Pellegrini revealed that new loan signing Frank Lampard would not play any part in the match following his arrival from New York City, while a host of players - including former Arsenal man Bacary Sagna - only joined up with the squad on Monday.

"Frank Lampard is not ready to play," he explained. "All the [other] players who arrived on Monday - [Martin] Demichelis, Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Sagna, Fernandinho and [Sergio] Aguero - they have a special pre-season this week and next week."

Wenger bolstered his ranks with the high-profile addition of Alexis Sanchez during the transfer window and the Frenchman is likely to put out a similar side to that which lost 1-0 to Monaco in the Emirates Cup.

"[The squad will be] completely similar [to Monaco] unless we buy someone before Sunday," the Gunners bosss confirmed. "It's exciting for us to go back to Wembley. Ideally you want to start strong.

"We are not maybe ready physically but we should be better on Sunday. It's a good test, good to play Manchester City because they are an interesting opponent."

TRANSFERZONE UPDATED NEWS..

Arsenal

In
Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) Undisclosed
Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United) Undisclosed
David Ospina (Nice) Undisclosed
Calum Chambers (Southampton) Undisclosed

Out
Lukasz Fabianski (Swansea City) Free
Bacary Sagna (Manchester City) Free
Chuks Aneke (Zuite Waregem) Free
Nicklas Bendtner Released
Chu Young Park Released
Wellington Silva (UD Almeria) Loan
Thomas Eisfeld (Fulham) Undisclosed

Aston Villa

InTom Leggett (Southampton) Undisclosed
Isaac Nehemie (Southampton) Undisclosed
Philippe Senderos (Valencia) Free
Joe Cole (West Ham) Free
Kieran Richardson (Fulham) Free

Out
Marc Albrighton (Leicester City) Free
Nathan Delfouneso Released

Burnley

In
Michael Kightly (Stoke City) Undisclosed
Matt Gilks (Unattached) Free
Marvin Sordell (Bolton Wanderers) Undisclosed
Matt Taylor (West Ham United) Free
Steven Reid (West Bromwich Albion) Free
Lukas Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough) Undisclosed

Out
David Edgar Released
Brian Stock Released
Keith Treacy Released
Nick Liversedge Released
Junior Stanislas Released
Chris Baird (West Bromwich Albion) Free

Chelsea

In
Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona) Undisclosed
Mario Pasalic (Hajduk Split) Undisclosed
Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid) Undisclosed
Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid) Undisclosed
Didier Drogba (Galatasaray) Free

Out
Tomas Kalas (Cologne) Loan
Ashley Cole (Roma) Free
Samuel Eto'o Released
Henrique Hilario Released
Sam Hutchinson Released
Frank Lampard (New York City) Free
Demba Ba (Besiktas) Undisclosed
Mario Pasalic (Elche) Loan
Lucas Piazon (Eintracht Frankfurt) Loan
Patrick van Aanholt (Sunderland) Undisclosed

Crystal Palace

In
Chris Kettings (Blackpool) Free
Fraizer Campbell (Cardiff)

Out
Neil Alexander Released
Kagisho Dikgacoi (Cardiff City) Free
Daniel Gabbidon Released
Dean Moxey Released
Jonathan Parr (Ipswich Town) Free
Aaron Wilbraham Released
Jose Campana (Sampdoria) Undisclosed
Jack Hunt (Nottingham Forest) Loan

Everton

In
Gareth Barry (Manchester City) Free
Muhamed Besic (Ferencvaros) Undisclosed

Out
Mason Springthorpe Released
Apostolos Vellios Released

Hull City 

In
Jake Livermore (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed
Robert Snodgrass (Norwich City) Undisclosed
Tom Ince (Blackpool) Free
Andrew Robertson (Dundee United) £2.85m
Harry Maguire (Sheffield United) £2.5m

Out
Joe Dudgeon Released
Abdoulaye Faye Released
Matty Fryatt Nottingham Forest (Free)
Conor Henderson Released
Eldin Jakupovic Released
Robert Koren Released

Leicester City 

In
Jack Barmby (Manchester United) Free
Matthew Upson (Brighton and Hove Albion) Free
Ben Hamer (Charlton Athletic) Free
Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa) Free
Leonardo Ulloa (Brighton & Hove Albion) Undisclosed

Out
George Taft (Burton Albion) Free
Lloyd Dyer (Watford) Free
Marko Futacs Released

Liverpool

In
Rickie Lambert (Southampton) Undisclosed
Adam Lallana (Southampton) Undisclosed
Emre Can (Bayer Leverkusen) Undisclosed
Lazar Markovic (Benfica) Undisclosed
Dejan Lovren (Southampton) Undisclosed
Divock Origi (Lille) Undisclosed

Out
Luis Alberto (Malaga) Loan
Michael Ngoo Released
Stephen Sama Released
Luis Suarez (Barcelona) Undisclosed
Iago Aspas (Sevilla) Loan
Andre Wisdom (West Bromwich Albion) Loan
Luis Suarez (Barcelona) Undisclosed
Divock Origi (Lille) Loan

Manchester City

In
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) Free
Fernando (Porto) Undisclosed
Willy Caballero (Malaga) Undisclosed

Out
Costel Pantilimon (Sunderland) Free
Joleon Lescott (West Brom) Free
Alex Nimely Released
Marcos Lopes (Lille) Loan
Gareth Barry (Everton) Free

Manchester United 

In
Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao) Undisclosed
Luke Shaw (Southampton) Undisclosed

Out
Federico Macheda (Cardiff City) Free
Jack Barmby (Leicester City) Free
Rio Ferdinand (QPR) Free
Ryan Giggs Released
Nemanja Vidic (Inter Milan) Free
Alexander Buttner (Dynamo Moscow) Undisclosed
Patrice Evra (Juventus) Undisclosed

Newcastle United 

In
Ayoze Perez (Tenerife) Undisclosed
Jack Colback (Sunderland) Free
Siem de Jong (Ajax) Undisclosed
Remy Cabella (Montpellier) Undisclosed
Emmanuel Riviere (Monaco) Undisclosed
Daryl Janmaat (Feyenoord) Undisclosed

Out
Conor Newton (Rotherham United) Free
Dan Gosling (Bournemouth) Free
Shola Ameobi Released
Michael Richardson Released
Mathieu Debuchy (Arsenal) Undisclosed
Sylvain Marveaux (Guingamp) Loan

Queens Park Rangers

In
Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) Free
Steven Caulker (Cardiff City) Undisclosed

Out
Aaron Hughes Released
Stephane Mbia Released
Andrew Johnson Released
Luke Young Released
Hogan Ephraim Released
Angelo Balanta Released
Tom Hitchcock Released
Yossi Benayoun (Maccabi Haifa) Undisclosed
Esteban Granero (Real Sociedad) Undisclosed

Southampton 

In
Dusan Tadic (FC Twente) Undisclosed
Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord) Undisclosed

Out
Andy Robinson (Bolton Wanderers) Free
Tom Leggett (Aston Villa) Undisclosed
Isaac Nehemie (Aston Villa) Undisclosed
Danny Fox (Nottingham Forest) Free
Lee Barnard Released
Guly do Prado Released
Jonathan Forte Released
Rickie Lambert (Liverpool) Undisclosed
Luke Shaw (Manchester United) Undisclosed
Adam Lallana (Liverpool) Undisclosed
Dejan Lovren (Liverpool) Undisclosed
Calum Chambers (Arsenal) Undisclosed

Stoke City 

In
Phil Bardsley (Sunderland) Free
Steve Sidwell (Fulham) Free
Mame Biram Diouf (Hannover) Free
Dionatan Teixeira (Banska Bystrica) Undisclosed
Bojan Krkic (Barcelona) Undisclosed

Out
Juan Agudelo Released
Matthew Etherington Released
Michael Kightly (Burnley) Undisclosed

Sunderland

In
Jordi Gomez (Wigan Athletic) Free
Billy Jones (West Bromwich Albion) Free
Costel Pantilimon (Manchester City) Free
Patrick van Aanholt (Chelsea) Undisclosed

Out
Billy Knott (Bradford City) Free
Phil Bardsley (Stoke City) Free
Craig Gardner (West Bromwich Albion) Free
Carlos Cuellar Released
Andrea Dossena Released
John Egan Released
Oscar Ustari Released
David Vaughan Released
Kieren Westwood Released
Jack Colback (Newcastle United) Free

Swansea City

In
Lukasz Fabianski (Arsenal) Free
Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon) Free
Stephen Kingsley (Falkirk) Undisclosed
Marvin Emnes (Middlesbrough) Undisclosed
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed
Jefferson Montero (Morelia) Undisclosed

Out
Leroy Lita Released
Jernade Meade Released
David Ngog Released
Darnel Situ Released
Michu (Napoli) Loan
Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed
Michel Vorm (Tottenham Hotspur) Undisclosed
Alejandro Pozuelo (Rayo Vallecano) Undisclosed

Tottenham Hotspur

In
Ben Davies (Swansea City) Undisclosed
Michel Vorm (Swansea City) Undisclosed

Out
Heurelho Gomes (Watford) Free
Cameron Lancaster Released
Jake Livermore (Hull City) Undisclosed
Gylfi Sigurdsson (Swansea City) Undisclosed

West Bromwich Albion 

In
Craig Gardner (Sunderland) Free
Joleon Lescott (Man City) Free
Chris Baird (Burnley) Free
Sebastien Pocognoli (Hannover) Undisclosed
Brown Ideye (Dynamo Kiev) Undisclosed
Andre Wisdom (Liverpool) Loan

Out
Billy Jones (Sunderland) Free
Scott Allan Released
Nicolas Anelka Released
Cameron Gayle Released
Zoltan Gera Released
Diego Lugano Released
Liam Ridgewell Released
Steven Reid (Burnley) Free
George Thorne (Derby County) Undisclosed

West Ham United

In
Mauro Zarate (Velez Sarsfield) Undisclosed
Cheikhou Kouyate (Anderlecht) Undisclosed
Aaron Cresswell (Ipswich Town) Undisclosed
Diego Poyet (Charlton Athletic) Undisclosed
Enner Valencia (Pachuca) Undisclosed

Out
Joe Cole (Aston Villa) Free
Jack Collison Released
Callum Driver Released
George McCartney Released
Jordan Spence Released
Matt Taylor (Burnley) Free