Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League. A first half strike from Alexis Sanchez was not enough for the Gunners to get the crucial three points.
The Eagles equalised late into the game when Yannick Bolasie fired a shot from outside the box to level the scores. The draw at home leaves Arsenal in fourth spot, level on points with third-placed Manchester City, but behind on goal difference. Manchester United are at the fifth spot, four points behind the Gunners.
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Let’s analyse the game with the major talking points from the Emirates:
1) Disappointing season for both sides
With the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City struggling throughout the season, it was expected of Arsenal to end their Premier League title drought this season. But as it turned out, the Gunners went from being at the top of the table at Christmas to being fourth in mid-April with five games to go.
This disappointment has left the fans fuming as they expected their side to win the title handsomely but that has not happened. The same has been the story for the Crystal Palace side. The Eagles were fifth in the Premier League table at Christmas with 29 points from the 17 games.
It looked as if Palace would be challenging for a top-4 spot this season but since Christmas, Alan Pardew’s side have only managed to get 10 points from the available 51. Both sides have had a dip in form in the second half of the season, and it will be interesting to see where they finish.
2) Alexis Sanchez is scoring again
The Chilean got injured back in November with a hamstring problem and has faced problems to get into form ever since he came back into the side in late January. His performances had been poor for the Gunners until he finally found the net against Watford at home.
When the former Barcelona forward is not getting the goals, he looks like a shadow of himself. He lacks the confidence and is often seeing wasting chances. But when the Chilean is in goal-scoring form, he is hard to stop.
He managed to get on the scoresheet for the third consecutive game, and it showed in his attitude. Sanchez looked eager throughout the game even after getting a goal. Arsenal will be hoping their star player can get them goals in all their remaining games as the fight for top-4 gets tough.
3) A good point for Palace
Alan Pardew led his side into the game on the back of a 0-0 draw at home to Everton in midweek and he had indicated he will be looking to try out different combinations in order to get his best line-up for the FA Cup semi-final against Watford. But given the depth in his squad, Pardew were without three key players going into this game.
Palace’s recent form against Arsenal had been poor as they had lost all their five games to the Gunners after getting promoted. But the manager set up his side in such a manner that Arsenal found it difficult to break them down.
This frustrated the hosts and eventually led to the equaliser for the visitors. This point takes the Eagles to 39 points, 9 points from the relegation zone. Hence, Alan Pardew, given the difference in quality in both the sides, will take the point as a good point going into the crucial encounter with Manchester United in midweek and then the FA Cup.
4) Same old story for Arsenal
The Gunners started the game brightly as they had as much as 86% possession in the first 25 minutes of the game. But what good is the possession of if it gave the team no goals?
The mood at the Emirates was starting to get nervy when Alexis Sanchez finally got the breakthrough for Arsenal just before the half-time whistle. It meant that a scoreline of 1-0 was still not very secure as Palace’s defence was very good and the game could have gone either way.
And that is what exactly happened as Wenger did not go for the kill. Palace equalised in the 82nd minute and Arsenal were left to chase the 3 points, which they could not manage to do so.
The same story is what always happens with the Gunners – they go ahead, they do not increase the lead, they get complacent, and they concede. On many occasions, this could have ended in a defeat for the home side. This is the story that always unfolds for the Gunners, and it is sad to see that a team with so much potential always struggle in the end.
5) Alan Pardew is a good tactician
The Crystal Palace manager started the game organising his team to defend deep in their own half, only trying to strike on the counter attacks. This was a tactic that did not work very well for the away side as Arsenal kept more than 80% of the possession but as the game progressed Pardew gave his players the liberty to get forward as well.
The change at halftime meant that Bakary Sako, being an attacking player, came on for a defensive midfielder in Jedinak. Sako helped Palace to keep the ball and tried to bring his teammates into the game.
Pardew also shifted Cabaye back to accompany Ledley, which gave another attacking option to his side. The change in tactics finally reaped the reward for the manager as Palace equalised.
In the same way, bringing on Adebayor against Arsenal worked in the Eagles’ favour. The changes employed by Pardew spoke of the confidence he had in his players and in the end, his players did not let him down.
