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Crystal Palace frustrate Arsenal revival as Mikel Arteta’s men run out of ideas

Sam Dean
·18 min read
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, Premier League: live score and latest updates from the Emirates - AFP
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, Premier League: live score and latest updates from the Emirates - AFP

Arsenal’s recent surge up the table has breathed new life into Mikel Arteta’s side, changing the entire mood of the club, but they are not yet so transformed that they can just breeze past a team such as Crystal Palace.

The south Londoners are fast becoming Arsenal’s bogey team, with Palace now unbeaten in the past five matches between the sides.

There is something about Arsenal that brings out Palace’s resilience and doggedness, and Roy Hodgson’s players seem to know which buttons to press and when to press them on their trips to the Emirates.

Arsenal’s frustration could be seen on the faces of their players, and also in the actions of their manager. So desperate was Arteta to inject some life into his team that, at one point in the second half, he even strayed onto the pitch to win the ball back from Palace winger Andros Townsend after a free-kick had been awarded to his side.

Inevitably there were moments when Palace had to withstand significant pressure here, sitting deep and absorbing the Arsenal attacks like a sturdy punch bag. But none of Arsenal’s blows were damaging, and the visitors had plenty of their own opportunities at the other end. If the game had continued for much longer, Palace might well have nicked a winner.

“We lacked the final quality,” said Arteta. “We are playing a lot of games and you can see fatigue, many players are not fresh. We gave the ball away. But I cannot fault the spirit. We had the plan, we just did not have the execution.”

By full-time a draw felt like a largely fair result, however disappointed Arsenal will be that their four-game winning streak has come to an end. Their overall performance was solid enough, but on a freezing night in north London they lacked the fireworks in attack that they have produced in recent weeks.

“They defended well with loads of players and we tried to break them down,” said Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin. “That little spark, that bit of creativity was missing today. We didn’t have that luck that we needed.”

Not even the return of Thomas Partey, their star midfielder, as a second-half substitute could inspire the home side, for whom young Emile Smith Rowe was unable to find the space and time he has thrived upon since Christmas.

A clean sheet was therefore a deserved reward for Palace, who had kept just three in the previous 26 league games, despite their reputation for solidity. If they had been just a touch more clinical in the final third, they could well have returned home with three points rather than one.

“I am more than satisfied,” said Hodgson. “A hard-working performance, we defended well. Maybe with a bit more composure we could have scored a goal. We were playing a team in excellent form and we leave with a deserved 0-0.”

All London derbies tend to have an added intensity, although these two teams have taken their rivalry up a notch or two in recent seasons. In the last few years Arsenal have been generally unable to keep their cool against Palace’s unique brand of provocative counter-attacking play. The biggest victim of this has been Granit Xhaka, who was booed by his own fans in this fixture last season.

He was subsequently stripped of the captaincy for his reaction to the jeers, and there is no question that Palace – and Wilfried Zaha in particular – had burrowed under his and Arsenal’s skin on that dismal afternoon.

There was a certain symbolism, then, when Xhaka flew across his own box to produce an exceptional block on Zaha here, in a typically competitive first half.

It was a good opportunity for Palace’s top scorer, once wanted by Arsenal, and it was by no means their only chance. James Tomkins headed against the bar from an Eberechi Eze cross, before Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno produced an acrobatic save as Christian Benteke’s header looked destined for the top corner.

Arsenal lacked the attacking threat of the in-form Kieran Tierney, missing through injury (he will have an MRI scan today, Arteta said), but did create chances, as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka both fired at goal.

The danger for Arsenal was always going to be in the moments after they lost the ball, with Zaha and Eze waiting to transition at speed.

It took a crucial sliding block from Xhaka to stop one Palace attack, and then another last-ditch clearance from the midfielder after Zaha had scampered away.

Still Arsenal pushed, with Arteta throwing Partey, Nicolas Pepe and Eddie Nketiah into the action, but on this occasion the pressure did not convert into clear chances.

Palace held their shape and dug in their heels on another night of frustration for Arsenal.

09:51 PM

FULL TIME

Really dull. Nothing happened, other than Palace hitting the post. Roy Hodgson will come away feeling pleased with how tactically and defensively sound his team looked.

09:48 PM

90 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Arsenal passing the ball around, in little danger of putting it in the box or playing a forward pass into space.

09:44 PM

87 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Every time possession turns over and there's a little chance to break... the following pass is awful and over hit. Palace waste another chance to get away.

Zaha wants a penalty as he outsprints Holding and is brought down from behind inside the area but doesn't get it... and it's a little confusing. It looks like a definite penalty and never a penalty at the same time, two players coming together in a physical battle. But Zaha has been taken out there... surely that's a foul?

09:42 PM

84 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Nothing. More of the same. It's like both teams are using this as a way to work on their defensive shape. Arsenal with 67 per cent of possession but showing little ambition to make use of it.

09:38 PM

81 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Benteke off, Ayew on. Lacazette off, Nketiah on. [shrugs shoulders].

09:36 PM

79 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Why does nobody want to win this? It's two teams keeping things as safe as possible, both so well drilled and tactically aware that they're cancelling each other out.

09:34 PM

76 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Eze has gone down in a heap and looks to have hurt himself while trying to dribble past Partey, clanging his knee off Partey's leg. By the way it's sent him flying I'm starting to think Partey might be built from metal.

09:31 PM

74 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Arsenal win a corner. Drama. Action. Intense.

The ball is crossed in... and goes out for a goal kick as Holding heads wide.

Garbage. This game is absolute garbage.

09:30 PM

71 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Thomas Partey comes on for Dani Ceballos! Get excited!

I'd like it if it made any sort of difference.

09:25 PM

68 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha is fouled by Luiz and spins on the floor like he's breakdancing, then bounces to his feet to confront him. He takes an accidental knee to the face, which would definitely hurt... but Zaha does well not to attack Luiz and get himself sent off. He was absolutely raging there. And he's still clutching his head off the ball a couple of minutes later.

09:23 PM

66 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Pepe on, Maitland-Niles off. No change in shape and Pepe is involved straight away, running into space on the right and taking down a switched pass. Palace get back, the ball is forced backwards, and they start passing around again. I just don't get the feeling that Arsenal are desperate to win here.

09:21 PM

64 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Here comes Pepe! Perhaps that's the bite we need. Zaha will go Supersonic and try to outdo the man who moved to the Emirates... and Pepe will dribble a bit and then lose the ball. Or he'll score a worldy from 25 yards. There is no inbetween.

09:20 PM

62 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Still the same. Palace blocking the path to goal, Arsenal trying to work their way through with quick passes. There's an edge, or bite missing in this match. Feels like a training game.

09:15 PM

58 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

The game has gone back to mostly nothing happening. I foresee a change coming soon from Arteta.

09:12 PM

55 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

The ball is worked forward from the centre-backs to midfield to Maitland-Niles in the box... but he's offside and Lacazette's shot off the side netting wouldn't have counted anyway.

09:12 PM

54 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Palace have dropped back slightly to deal with the early Arsenal pressure and that has slowed things down a bit. A tight 4-4-2 block is a fairly large obstacle in front of the goal and Arsenal's centre-backs are the most involved.

09:08 PM

51 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Yep. Arsenal have been told a few things at half time. Much more aggressive, attacking, more effort... the forwards actually getting on the ball.

09:04 PM

48 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

This is already better from Arsenal. A quick start and Bellerin blasts a dipping, thumped shot just wide of the post from 20 yards. Aubameyang's managed to put a cross in too after finally getting on the ball again.

09:02 PM

KICK OFF 2

No changes from either side. I don't think it'll take long for Arteta to make some if there's not a big difference in performance after the first five minutes.

08:57 PM

A stat to summarise that half

  • This is only the second time in Arsenal's last 96 home Premier League games they have managed just two shots or fewer in the first half, with the other against Liverpool in July 2020.

Better second half please. Please.

08:47 PM

HALF TIME

Crystal Palace have been very good, highly drilled, great shape, keeping Arsenal quiet and finding ways to get in behind them. No goals though... and that's always their problem. Arsenal haven't done anything.

08:43 PM

43 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

WHAT A SAVE! Palace are the ones creating the chances and they're mostly coming from crosses on the left wing. Benteke finally gets a shot on target, connecting with a ball sent into the area from Mitchell and pushing it towards the top corner. Leno dives and turns it away with fingertips. Superb goalkeeping.

Tomkins is booked for hacking Saka down earlier in the move.

08:40 PM

40 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

PALACE HIT THE POST! Drama at the Emirates as Eze floats a free-kick into the box from left of the area, and Tomkins leaps above Holding to head at goal. Leno is beaten but watches as the ball bounces back into play and is then booted over the bar by Benteke.

08:37 PM

37 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha takes on Bellerin, goes through the stepovers, beats him and crosses low on the left... but the ball comes off Bellerin's slide tackle and then hits Zaha. Goal kick. I think he might explode tonight at some point.

08:34 PM

34 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha is moaning about something to someone on the bench. I'm not sure who he's talking to, or yelling at, whether coaches, Arsenal staff or the officials, but the Sky Sports commentator has had to apologise for any bad language I may have heard. I welcome the apology too as there is simply no way I could have expected to hear bad language at a football game.

08:31 PM

31 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha kicks the ball off the boards in frustration as a trick doesn't quite come off on the wing and he gives away possession. Arsenal throw it in, Ceballos finds Aubameyang with a long pass and Arsenal move up the pitch.... winning a corner.

08:30 PM

30 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Saka's made a mistake and given Palace the ball near the Arsenal box. Zaha is taken down off the ball and is so angry about it he's just sitting down staring into space. He may also be wondering why his life has to come this as Benteke balloons a shot eight miles over the bar from 12 yards.

08:28 PM

27 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Crystal Palace defending well but still unable to really cause any problems. Arsenal moving the ball around nicely, working it from side to side... but again, unable to really cause problems.

08:23 PM

24 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha gets on the ball and is quickly surrounded by three or four players in midfield. He turns two, bursts away from another, and is then closed out of it and is furious, complaining to the referee that he's been unfairly impeded. That's the problem with Zaha, he's really good so the opposition just crowd him out... and Palace don't have anyone else they need to worry about. Stop Zaha, stop Palace.

Zaha almost dances into the box to shoot soon after but Xhaka slides in to block.

08:21 PM

21 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

AUBAMEYANG! Great effort! The Arsenal captain gets on the ball on the left of the box, faces up to the defences then fires a shot towards the top corner. Guaita pushes the ball up into the air then catches it on second try while climbing over bodies in the box. An interesting save but it's worked, so we shouldn't be critical.

And Saka has had a shot now, forcing an effort from 20 yards after earning his own space to take it.

08:19 PM

18 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Both goalkeepers grow tired of rolling the ball out short and have started kicking long... to each other. A throw-back Premier League tactic.

08:17 PM

17 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Maitland-Niles is all over the place. He's just smacked a pass back to his goalkeeper that goes flying out of play for a corner... and had it been 'on target' would most likely have gone in the net. He's having one of those games where nothing seems to quite work.

08:15 PM

14 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Arteta is backseat footballing again, instructing every single move of his players from the sidelines, gesticulating manically as play unfolds. There's a time and a place for removing your players' freedom of thought and every single minute of the game might not be it.

08:13 PM

13 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Xhaka and Maitland-Niles have been sloppy so far tonight, giving the ball away a few times. M-N has just completely sold Aubameyang with a dreadful five yard pass which gives the striker no chance and starts a Palace counter. That fizzles out in the Arsenal half.

08:12 PM

11 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Zaha does this cool little trick where he receives the ball and just as he touches it suddenly snaps his body position so he takes it completely the opposite way you anticipate he will, winning himself a few yards to turn and look forward. Works every time... on me. Watching on TV. Must be a nightmare on the pitch to defend against.

08:08 PM

8 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Some nice passing from Arsenal, quick combinations, decent off the ball movement... but no chances created. Both teams are playing with a fast tempo too, which makes the game a lot more fun to watch than it often is when Crystal Palace are featured.

08:06 PM

5 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Palace aren't just sitting deep and waiting to hit Arsenal on the counter, they look like they're expecting mistakes at the back if they apply a bit of pressure. At the moment Arsenal are passing through them, just lacking end product.

08:03 PM

3 mins - Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0

Arsenal's forwards looking for balls over the top early on but the passes aren't coming. Palace are playing quite a high pressing game from the start and it's a little frantic in the first few minutes. Arsenal look calmer.

08:01 PM

KICK OFF

Palace get the game started!

07:58 PM

Here come the players

Just a little look at Zaha vs Pepe now that I've updated the database for the lovely player radar tool. Zaha starts, Pepe's on the bench.

Zaha vs Pepe 20/21 PL comparison
Zaha vs Pepe 20/21 PL comparison

I know who I'd prefer in my team. They have similar styles but Zaha also offers a creative forward pass - Pepe is a dribble master and that's about it. And half the time he runs with the ball he ends up giving it away.

07:56 PM

Promising statistics for Arsenal fans

07:46 PM

Roy Hodgson

Mr Hodgson doesn't seem too convinced his team are coming away with anything here and largely talks his side's chances down. He does mention that he hasn't really watched much of Arsenal before this game too:

"They had a difficult start in terms of results, I don't know about performances. I believe they've been playing very well and what I've seen on the television I've been impressed."

07:36 PM

Mikel Arteta

"It's much better, we have a great opportunity to make it four and we want to take it. Today it has to be another good day.

"Tierney had some muscle soreness. He hasn't recovered well so we could not take the risk.

"Gabriel's feeling much better he's had a week of training, Thomas (Partey) has been pushing all week as well and hopefully we give him some minutes today."

07:21 PM

How the table looks before the match

As you can see here, nothing much is likely to change this evening unless some crazy shenanigans go on.

That said, if Arsenal do win 12-0 they will climb all the way to eighth. Palace can leapfrog Arsenal with a win tonight.

07:15 PM

Arsenal vs Crystal Palace live

Welcome to our liveblog for Arsenal vs Crystal Palace, a London derby that nobody really treats like a derby. After a terrible few weeks Mikel Arteta's side finally look half decent, just in time for the visit of Roy Hodgson's fun denying Palace team. They always seem to get results somehow from somewhere, but will it happen tonight?

The teams are in and this is what they look like:

Tierney and Mari are left out as precautions apparently, or according to Arsenal's Twitter account anyway, and I think that means Maitland-Niles is a left-back. He's never getting that midfield slot he wants is he?

Palace look much as expected, with professional QPR fan Eze starting along with the Man Arsenal Didn't Want, Wilfried Zaha. The thing is though, they actually did want Zaha rather than Pepe, or so says Unai Emery. This is what the former Arsenal manager has had to say on the matter:

“We signed Pepe. He’s a good player but we didn’t know his character and he needs time, patience.

"I favoured someone who knew the league and wouldn’t need to adapt. Zaha won games on his own: Tottenham, Manchester City, us. Incredible performances. I told them: ‘This is the player I know and want.’

"I met Zaha and he wanted to come. The club decided Pepe was one for the future. I said: ‘Yes, but we need to win now and this lad wins games.’ He beat us on his own."

“It’s also true he was expensive and Palace didn’t want to sell. There were a series of decisions that had repercussions.”

Kick off for this is 8pm, at which point Zaha can exact his revenge on the club who wouldn't sign him. Take that, Arsenal! A 0-0 draw to follow.