Arsenal throws away a two-goal lead over Crystal Palace.
Arsenal blew a two-goal lead and finished the game with far more problems than when they started.
There are a bunch of excuses to be had starting with the referee having a stinker but there are no excuses for blowing a two-goal lead at home to a non top-six team.
The game started off great, two goals up within the first ten minutes, courtesy of both the central defenders. But you just knew it would not last.
The game changed for Arsenal on the 35th minute when VAR overturned the referee’s decision to book Wilfrid Zaha for diving in the penalty area. I have to admit that it was a penalty but so very curious VAR overturns this one. So many that have gone before have remained unchanged, a strange one.
But regardless, 2-1 it was, Arsenal still had the lead and was not playing that badly.
The second half started with Palace in a confident mood and truth be told, the equaliser from Ayew in the 52nd minute was not a surprise.
The game flowed and Arsenal had the better of the possession, more shots, more shots on target but never dominated.
Granit Xhaka an unhappy man.
Then there was the Granit Xhaka incident.
The Arsenal captain reacted poorly to the fans cheering his substitution in the 61st minute. He slow-walked off, cupped his hand to his ear and gesticulated to the crowd raising his arms into the air in some form of mock cheerleading.
That is a matter that will not go away too quietly in the hours and days to come.
Arsenal thought they scored at the end but VAR again worked against them. Chambers was supposed to have made a foul in the area but it looked really soft to me.
The bottom line, VAR and the ref have a lot to answer for but as I said at the beginning, you do not throw away a two-goal lead. Not at home and not to a non top-six team.