Arsenal 2-2 Crystal Palace: The 13th draw

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction

Arsenal’s drew for the 13th time in the Premier League last night, twice being pegged-back by Crystal Palace as the game ended 2-2.

We began well, going ahead early through Jakub Kiwior. Martin Odegaard’s set-piece delivery from our left-hand side was good, Palace’s marking was non-existent, but take nothing away from the Polish international whose firm header from some distance was very good indeed. 1-0.

I wrote before this game about the distraction of semi-finals, and I think that was certainly a factor for us last night. More so than for Palace whose game against Aston Villa comes much sooner and who would perhaps be more easily forgiven for not keeping their eye on the ball 100%.

David Raya was not himself, that’s for certain. He’s been so good for us this season but looked like he’d been hit in the head with a cast-iron pan just before kick off. His handling, usually so assured, wasn’t right, and his on the ball work was jittery. Palace threatened as we were sloppy at the back, with Kiwior at least twice making important interventions as we looked shaky.

At the other end, the one time Raheem Sterling decided to move off the right wing it resulted in a good chance for Declan Rice but he fired a shot just wide. Not long after, the scores were level. We left Ebere Eze free outside the box from a Palace corner, the ball was clipped to him, and his volleyed finished bounced down and in off the post. Credit to him because it’s a lovely finish, but you might ask a question or two about the defending there.

I know you can’t always judge from TV, but the atmosphere felt strange, in part because the game was being played at testimonial pace. That was true of both sides, the FA Cup and Champions League games we face were unquestionably a factor. When Jurrien Timber added a bit of zip to proceedings, we went ahead again. He upped the pace, drove forward, played it to Leandro Trossard who did well to get a shot away, and the ball nestled inside the post via a slight deflection. 2-1 Arsenal going into the break.

The second half was more of the same. A game of football that felt like driving uphill in a clapped-out 1976 Skoda with the boot full of breeze blocks. Not a lot happened, but very slowly and tediously. Mikel Arteta sent on Bukayo Saka for Sterling after it became too obvious teammates were looking for literally any other option most of the time. Palace threatened again when Justin Devenny was left with a free header which he made a mess of, but which still almost went in under the crossbar.

We had the ball in the net again but the linesman’s flag went up for an offside against Timber in the build-up. Turns out he was onside but the ball had gone over the line before he hooked it back into the mixer for Gabriel Martinelli to apply the finish. Then, on 80 minutes, something of a sliding doors moment in the game. Saka produced a good volley from a Martinelli cross, but Dean Henderson made a very good save to prevent the goal that would have made it 3-1 and almost certainly ensured the win.

Five minutes later and Palace were level. William Saliba, otherwise his impeccable self, made another mistake on the ball to follow the one he made in Madrid, and Palace took advantage. Jean-Philippe Mateta brushed off Odegaard too easily, and with Raya out of position and running around all night like he was trying to catch imaginary butterflies, he clipped the ball into what was essentially an empty net.

I think it’s a nice finish, no question, but I was a little surprised by how Sky Sports kept insisting it was one of the goals of the season. Come on. It’s terrible at the back from Arsenal, Mateta took full advantage and in the form he’s been in this season you’d expect him to score, but it’s a goal borne from Arsenal’s defensive instability. We looked like the side far more concerned with our semi-final, despite the fact we have three extra days to prepare.

In the end, Palace ended the game with more shots, higher xG, and I don’t think you can argue they didn’t deserve something on the night. We had some attacking moments where, perhaps with better execution/concentration, we could have done better, but I watch this Arsenal team closely – as I know you do too – and I know when we’re fully focused and when we’re not. And last night, we were not.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

We never found enough consistency in actions to win the right to completely dominate the game. We had periods of that. And then we started to give those sloppy balls away. We dropped the standards in certain defensive habits as well. And yeah, when you are not your best, but you are winning 2-1, obviously you can’t give them away in the manner that we did it.

I know it’s not the biggest issue we face now, because the league season has been done for a while and we have bigger European fish to fry, but the draws have been the killer. 9 of those 13 draws have come in games we’ve been leading in, so there’s something to sort out there, and while Arteta’s Arsenal remain a difficult side to beat, 26 dropped points from those drawn games makes life too difficult if you want to challenge for the title.

I guess the takeaway at this moment in time is to take that element of being hard to beat into the games against PSG, where I expect the players to be much more switched on. I know what Arteta says about consistency and performing to a high level in every game, but human nature is what it is as well. For many of these players, the CL semi-finals are the biggest games of their club careers so far, so while I’m not excusing a drop in standards or concentration, I understand it.

We’ll wait and see about the fitness of Ben White and Mikel Merino who didn’t make the squad last night, the manager saying they were both unavailable without too much in the way of explanation. He could be just muddying the waters ahead of Tuesday, but fingers crossed for both of them.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now. We will have an Arsecast for you a bit later, so stay tuned for that. For now, have a good one.

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