Arsenal failed to beat Crystal Palace this evening at the Emirates, the fifth consecutive match where we have failed to claim all three points against our rivals.
The match started brightly on our part, we brought our positive energy into the game from early on, and was causing all sorts of problems for Palace’s defence, but we always seemed to be just one pass away from that clear chance we were chasing.
I hate to say it, but inside the opening 15 minutes, we had the numbers advantage in the final third, only for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to make the wrong decision on the ball and gift it away.
Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe were passing around neatly as trying to carve out chances of their own, and the former did try and take on some long range efforts, but none troubled Guaita in goal.
Our wastefulness allowed the Eagles to build themselves into the match, and Ebere Eze began to cause us trouble, earning some free-kicks in some dangerous areas.
There wasn’t any chances in that first-half that screamed goal however, and we failed to take any kind of grip on things in the second-half either.
Palace appear to find a way to raise their level against us, and they were not playing with the same struggles they have in recent weeks.
Despite bringing both Thomas Partey and Nicolas Pepe into the fold for the majority of the second-half, none could make the difference, and the game eventually fizzled out for a 0-0 stalemate.
This will go down as Arsenal’s first ever failure to score at home against Palace, and the game will go down as one you would have struggled to stay awake watching.
Our side have now failed to beat Palace in any of our last five attempts, with four draws and a loss.
Do Arsenal give Palace too much respect?
Patrick