By Rob Kelly
WHAT HAPPENED
Our winning run came to an end on Thursday night as Crystal Palace held us to a goalless draw in a game of few chances at Emirates Stadium.
Coming into the match having won our last four in a row in all competitions, we dominated the early exchanges but found it tough to break down the visitors’ deep block.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was first to test Palace keeper Vincent Guaita with a stinging effort after cutting in from the left, before Bukayo Saka tried his luck from the edge of the area.
But the south Londoners grew in confidence and came close when James Tomkins hit the bar with a glancing header, and then Christian Benteke forced Bernd Leno to make a fine scrambling save before the interval.
We needed to step it up after the break, and within 30 seconds we carved out a decent opportunity as Hector Bellerin fired inches wide from the edge of the area.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a shot from the edge of the area that was comfortably held just after the hour mark, as we found it tough to break down the obdurate visitors.
Nicolas Pepe and Thomas Partey were soon introduced off the bench as we pushed for the breakthrough, with Rob Holding threatening with a header he diverted wide from a corner.
We kept pushing and probing for a late winner, but it wasn’t to be and we had to settle for a point from a frustrating night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
See how the match unfolded with our play-by-play commentary.
WHAT IT MEANS
WHAT’S NEXT
Having beaten Newcastle last weekend in the Emirates FA Cup, we welcome them back to north London to face them in the Premier League on Monday evening.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
