Arsenal missed the chance to go third in the Premier League table after they were held 1-1 by Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Alexis Sanchez put the hosts ahead at the Emirates on the
stroke of half-time with his third goal in as many games, and the hosts
squandered several opportunities before Yannick Bolasie secured a point.The Palace winger cut inside on 81 minutes and caught Petr Cech by surprise with a low drive from the edge of the box that found the corner.
The result leaves Arsenal looking over their shoulder in the race for a top-four spot, with Manchester United just four points behind them in fifth place.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace remain 16th and extend their unbeaten run to four Premier League matches.
Arsenal vs W Brom
April 21, 2016,
Even then, the first shot on target didn't come until the 28th minute in a low-key start, but Cech comfortably gathered Bolasie's hopeful strike.
Connor Wickham headed Yohan Cabaye's free-kick over the bar for Palace, while Wayne Hennessey smartly denied Mesut Ozil after a neat one-two with Sanchez.
The Chilean broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, holding off the challenge of Pape Souare and heading over the Palace 'keeper after a measured chip from Danny Welbeck.
And they missed several chances after the break to extend their lead, with Alex Iwobi and Welbeck both guilty.
The former fluffed a header after a fine cross from Francis Coquelin, before Welbeck struck straight at Hennessey with Ozil and Sanchez waiting for the cross.
Palace served warning of their threat when Bakary Sako's header forced a fine stop from Cech, but the Arsenal 'keeper will not look back fondly on the visitors' winner.
With nine minutes to play, Bolasie was shown onto his right-foot and his firm strike squirmed past Cech to level.
Boos for the home side were audible at the final whistle following Arsenal's second straight draw, and the dropped points mean they face a battle to hold onto a top-four spot with five games remaining.
Arsenal: Cech (5), Bellerin (6), Koscielny (5), Gabriel (6), Monreal (6), Coquelin (6), Elneny (6), Sanchez (7), Ozil (6), Iwobi (6), Welbeck (6)
Subs used: Walcott (6), Giroud (6), Ramsey (6)
Crystal Palace: Hennessey (7), Ward (6), Dann (8), Delaney (8), Souare (6), Puncheon (6), Jedinak (7), Cabaye (7), Ledley (6), Bolasie (7), Wickham (6)
Subs used: Sako (6), Zaha (7), Adebayor (6)
Man of the match: Damien Delaney
No comments:
Post a Comment