Arsenal were left in a dangerous fourth position after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home against a determined Crystal Palace side in the Premier League. The hosts started the game on the front foot as Palace opted to defend deep in the first half.
This tactic eventually benefitted the Gunners as Alexis Sanchez scored just before the break. But Yannick Bolasie equalised for the visitors in the closing stages of the game to share the points in what was a crucial encounter for the home side in the race to finish in the top 4.
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Here is how the players from both the sides fared:
Arsenal
Petr Cech – 4
The Arsenal shot-stopper returned to the first team to replace David Ospina and should have saved his team when it mattered. The ex-Chelsea man was unable to stop a shot from Yannick Bolasie in the 82nd minute as the ball went inside on his near-post.
Cech was, however, not troubled at all throughout the game by the Eagles’ attackers and looked comfortable.
Hector Bellerin – 5
The Spaniard struggled in the final third as he failed to get his delivery into the box right throughout the game. He got into great positions but failed to deliver any good crosses for his teammates. Bellerin was not really troubled in the first half by the Palace attackers but he was undone by the pace of Sako and Bolasie in the second half.
Gabriel Paulista – 6
The Brazilian was solid at the back except for a couple of times when he could not win the battle against Bolasie. He also seemed to have blocked Petr Cech’s vision when Bolasie hit his shot from outside the box. In the end, it was an assured performance from the defender but was not enough to win his side the game.
Laurent Koscielny – 7
The Frenchman had a good game at the back as he tried to keep out the danger of the counter attacks by Palace. He made some crucial interceptions and broke up the play whenever the Eagles looked to strike on the counter.
Nacho Monreal – 6
The left-back was very quiet when going forward throughout the game. He was fairly good when defending his side of the flank but he lacked the final delivery when on attack. He should have made some decent crosses in the latter stages of the game but failed to make any impact.
Francis Coquelin – 5
The Frenchman had a good game in the middle of the park apart from the one time where Bolasie fired his shot past him into the back of the net. He should have blocked the shot but could not put any proper pressure on the Congolese and ended up giving away a crucial goal.
Otherwise, the midfielder broke up play and made some clever passes to his teammates.
Mohamed Elneny – 6
The Egyptian was at it again in the middle of the park. He had a good game as he put in a shift for his side but could not come up with anything special to lift his side and extend their lead.
Mesut Ozil – 7
The playmaker was very good with his vision and passing throughout the game. He looked to fight to regain possession and press his opponents, which is something rare from the German. His delivery from set-plays was fine and he could have given his team more goals if the chances were taken well by his teammates.
Alexis Sanchez – 7
The Chilean got his third goal in as many games. He was very lively throughout the match as he looked to extend Arsenal’s lead. Sanchez's skills and tricks were there for all to see as he bamboozled Jedinak on one noticeable occasion.
The former Barcelona man would have expected his side to keep the lead but he should have taken his chances at the other end.
Alex Iwobi – 6
The youngster has been in fine form and was again in the starting XI. He played on the right and created some difficulties for the Palace defence. His work-rate and attitude was always applauded by the home crowd but he missed a great chance early on in the second half as he steered his header wide.
Danny Welbeck – 6
The English striker could not manage a goal for himself but he did set up one for Sanchez. His chipped pass to the Chilean led to the only Arsenal goal. The striker was always lively and created some doubts in the Palace defence with his pace and link-up play.
Substitutes
Olivier Giroud – 6
The French striker replaced Welbeck with 15 minutes to go and did not get the right delivery into the box from his teammates.
Theo Walcott – NA
Walcott came on to replace Elneny in the 84th minute with all to do, but he missed two glaring chances to break on the counter.
Aaron Ramsey – 6
The Welshman came on for Iwobi in the 75th minute as part of the double-substitution. He did not create any real chances going forward.
Crystal Palace
Wayne Hennessey – 7
The Welsh goalkeeper was always involved in the game as Arsenal kept possession and had chances on goal. But Hennessey kept everything out and was good with his handling except for the one time where he failed to reach the ball ahead of Sanchez during the Arsenal goal.
He made a couple of reflex saves to deny the Gunners and should be happy with his performance.
Joel Ward – 5
The English right-back sat on the ball quite literally once in the second half to deny possession to Sanchez. He was very busy at the back as he was unable to cope up with Iwobi and Monreal during the first half.
Damien Delaney – 7
The Irish defender had a great game at the back as he covered well for the injured Dann. He was brilliant for his side as he helped out his backline in tough situations. His tackling and intercepting play were very good.
Scott Dann – 6
Dann had a tough time on the pitch as he was injured in the first half when he went on to strike his boot into Gabriel’s. His injury led to Arsenal scoring their only goal as Sanchez broke free but the second half was great from the defender.
Pape Souare – 6
The young defender was very good on his wing as he denied any real opportunities to Bellerin throughout the game. He defended his flank very well and got forward to assist his attackers when his team broke on the counter.
Joe Ledley – 5
Ledley did well to stop the likes of Ozil and Sanchez throughout the game. His pace gave him the time to stop the attackers and break up the play. He was booked for a pull-back on Sanchez in the second half.
Yohan Cabaye – 6
The Frenchman was at his absolute best while breaking up Arsenal’s midfield but did not produce anything special for his forward players. He closed down the likes of Iwobi and Coquelin well throughout the game and ended up matching Arsenal’s midfielders.
Mile Jedinak – 5
The midfielder struggled to match his opponents and failed to get the ball off his opponents throughout the first half. Hence, he was substituted at half-time by Pardew to bring on Sako.
Jason Puncheon – 5
The Englishman struggled to get involved in the game as Arsenal retained possession and had much of the ball. He was quite anonymous throughout the game and did not help his side defensively or offensively.
Yannick Bolasie – 7
The Congolese midfielder was very poor throughout the game as he gave away possession time and time again. But he made up for his poor performance through his low drilled shot into the back of the net to get a point for his side.
Connor Wickham – 5
The forward did not get any real chances throughout the game and was missing as Arsenal retained possession. He was taken off early in the second half as he had just returned from an injury lay-off.
Substitutes
Bakary Sako – 7
Sako replaced Jedinak after the break in a game where his team saw little possession, Sako made the most of his opportunities as he ran past Bellerin on a couple of occasions. He did miss a headed effort.
Emmanuel Adebayor – 5
The former Arsenal and Tottenham striker was treated with boos throughout his 20 minutes on the pitch. He replaced Wickham and was lively, and passed the ball to Bolasie for the goal.
Wilfried Zaha – NA
The youngster came on to replace Puncheon and did not make any contribution worthy of a mention.
