Arsenal and Crystal Palace both arrived at Selhurst Park last night looking to gain momentum as the business end of the season begins, but it was the Eagles who left buoyant as they continue to fly high under Patrick Vieira.
Palace have their sights set on winning the FA Cup this season and, ahead of next week’s semi-final against Chelsea, this 3-0 win will ensure they go to Wembley full of confidence.
As for Arsenal, who are trying to return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season, this was a chastening defeat and a real bump in the road when recently it had looked like they could cruise to fourth in the Premier League.
That clearly won’t be the case now and the momentum in the race to snatch the final Champions League berth has swung to the other side of north London. It has been a dream 48 hours for Tottenham, who, after beating Newcastle 5-1 on Sunday, stayed fourth thanks to Palace’s victory.
Plenty more twists and turns are likely before Arsenal and Spurs finally meet again on May 12, with that rearranged derby having the makings of a true Champions League decider, but the pendulum has inarguably now lurched in Tottenham’s favour.
“This is a moment now to challenge each other, to help each other and to believe again because on Saturday I’m sure we’re going to play at the Emirates [against Brighton], it’s going to be full and our supporters are going to be right behind the team,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“This is an opportunity to see when we talk about unity, if you are on the boat. When everything goes well everybody wants to be there. So now, jump on the boat now and give us a hand.”
Arteta will want to make sure Arsenal do not panic now. They may no longer be sitting fourth, but they remain level on points with Tottenham and still have a game in hand.
Arteta will be concerned, however, by the manner of this performance and the fact that both Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey are now injured. Tierney missed out entirely last night due to a knee injury and will see a specialist today, while Partey limped off with a muscle problem.
Losing that duo would severely weaken Arsenal’s already thin squad, and Nuno Tavares’ struggles at left-back highlighted a lack of depth. The 22-year-old was hauled off at half-time, but Arteta really could have justified substituting any of his defenders.
They were unusually disorganised and Palace capitalised, playing with the energy and pace that Arsenal lacked. Ben White clumsily gave away a free-kick for the first goal, with poor defending allowing Jean-Philippe Mateta to head home. The second came as Gabriel went flying out to intercept a pass, but completely missed the ball and Jordan Ayew broke through to score.
That was all inside the opening 25 minutes as Arsenal were blown away. Wilfried Zaha’s penalty in the 75th minute, the result of more clumsy defending, this time from Martin Odegaard, rounded off a dismal night.
“We were late to every ball, we were soft in the duels and we didn’t earn the right to play, and when we did a little bit we were sloppy on the ball,” said Arteta.
“We didn’t have any dominance or sequences of play when we could take control of the game and we conceded two poor goals as well, so overall it’s unacceptable.”
If Arsenal were slow and sloppy, Palace were the complete opposite. Vieira has transformed this side over the season and it is easy to see why they took four points off Manchester City.
They have done the same to Arsenal and should arguably have claimed all three at Emirates Stadium early this season, only for Alexandre Lacazette’s late goal to deny them.
That wasn’t going to happen last night, though, and Palace put in a performance that should mean they head to Wembley for their showdown against Chelsea with no fear.
The one disappointment will be that Conor Gallagher is not available for that semi-final, with the England midfielder ineligible to play against his parent club.
He led from the front last night, pressing and harrying Arsenal into individual errors that have become uncharacteristic recently. Gallagher looks like he is going places, and the same can be said for Palace under Vieira.
