ARSENAL did NOT impress fans as they struggled to a 0-0 draw at home to a Crystal Palace side who should have grabbed all three points.
Mikel Arteta admitted his side were not at the races but clearly missed Kieran Tierney, who was a late withdrawal.
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THAT’S A WRAP
Thanks for joining us this evening, don’t forget to check out our match report courtesy of Mark Irwin.
ON TIERNEY’S ABSENCE
Arteta spoke of how much his side are missing Kieran Tierney, he added: “He’s a real threat and the way we are playing and attacking on the left- he’s a really important player- but he’s injured, so we have to find a solution.
“He’s having an MRI tomorrow and then we’ll see how bad it is.”
ARTETA SPEAKS
The Arsenal boss said: “We were missing some freshness and quality in the final third.
“We lacked the last pass, or the timing, or the last shot today – we have to generate more to win the game.
“I would like to have seen us win today and score a few goals- there were moments where fatigue played a factor, where we gave balls away and allowed them to counter.
“I can’t fault them with the effort they put in- they tried until the last minute- but it just wasn’t enough today.”
HODGSON ON POINTS
On getting a point on the road and a clean sheet, he added: “I think we’re getting back to where we want to be and it’s nice to go into the next phase of the season with 23 points.
“We haven’t given up hope of getting points at Manchester City, but it’s nice to have points between us and the teams really fighting at the bottom.
“If we played like we did today, there are points in the bag for us going forward.”
BOSS SPEAKS
Roy Hodgson said: ” I’m more than satisfied with everything- I thought or defending was good throughout.
“I thought there was a particularly good spell in the first-half where we created some good opportunities.
“In the second half, I feel we wasted several opportunities with the final pass, after getting ourselves in a position with a pass that could have hurt them.
“But throughout, it was an excellent defensive performance and a fantastic piece of discipline and hard work from the players.
“I’m really proud with the way they went around their work today.”
EBERECHI EZE SPEAKS
Speaking about gaining a point away from home, Eberechi Eze said: “We’ll take it, we put in a good performance and worked hard, we showed our quality on the ball as well, so it’s a good point to take.
“These type of games you need a chance to go in and it’s difficult because you can go long spells without the ball, but we did put on a great performance.
“They’re a great team and have loads of quality- with the type of players they have, you have to be alert and keep working hard – I think we did that today.”
HOW’S STAT
That’s the first time Arsenal have failed to score at home against Palace ever!
Arsenal now find themselves in 11th, while Palace are just one point behind them in 13th.
FT: ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
92. Palace break quickly and Ayew finds himself with the ball on the left of the box.
He finds space between three red shirts, but takes too long on the ball and his left-footed effort is weak and straight at Bellerin.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
91. Arsenal are inching their way closer to goal thanks to several late tackles courtesy of Palace.
Saka takes the freekick and bends a lovely ball around the Palace wall, but no forward can get through the gap.
Great defending again from the visitors.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
90. There have been 79 matches at the Emirates since the last goalless draw.
Looks as though we’re heading for one this evening.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
90. Four additional minutes at the Emirates.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
89. Substitution for Palace as their captain Milivojevic is replaced by McCarthy.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
88. Arteta tries to hype his team up, they certainly need it!
Saka whips the freekick in to the centre of the box, but Guaita punches it clear.
The loose ball falls to Pepe but he sends it flying over the bar.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
86. Townsend gives away a freekick, about 30 yards out on the left.
He appeared to trip Nketiah up as the pair were both racing towards the ball.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
85. Are we heading for stalemate?
We’ve got four minutes, plus extra time, to find out..
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
84. Zaha goes over in the area, after tussling with Holding.
But Zaha appeared to have overstretched himself, under pressure from Holding, and was already toppling forward before any contact was made.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
Here’s the Luiz and Zaha incident..
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
81. Arsenal’s corner doesn’t beat the first man.
Arsenal recover and play the ball around the edge of the area.
Smith-Rowe strikes it from the top of the box, but the low shot can’t make it through the crowd.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
80. Substitutions for both sides; Lacazette is replaced by Nketiah and Ayew replaces Benteke.
If Nketiah is to have any influence, Arsenal need to actually get the ball up his end of the pitch- it didn’t happen for Laca this evening.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
79. Mitchell’s cross into the box is destined for Townsend, but Saka is goalside of the Palace man.
Although, he does appear to be a little too calm on the ball as Townsend applies pressure before Saka whacks it away.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
Considering it’s been all Xhaka v Zaha, this was not a sight we expected to see.
Zaha squared up to Luiz after the Arsenal defender took him out and then clipped his face while he was on the ground.
In fairness to Luiz, the catching of the face looked accidental.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
76. Ayew is waiting in the wing to come on, but it’s all on hold until they know the severity of Eze’s injury.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
75. Eze is down and looks as though he may needs treatment.
It appears as though he clashed knees with Partey as the Arsenal man tried to stop his run.
ARSENAL 0-0 CRYSTAL PALACE
73. Just like the first half, Arsenal came firing out of the blocks but got a little complacent and have allowed Palace to find their feet.
Palace have had plenty of opportunities and look the more threatening side.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
