Summary
Palace are now six points clear of Swansea in 18th, and they still have a game in hand over the Welsh side. They are not quite out of the woods yet – as they have a tough end to the season with games against Leicester, Liverpool, Spurs, Burnley, Manchester City, Hull City and Manchester United left – but maybe one more win, and they’ll be OK. On that form, they look a top half team, easy.
For Arsenal, that should all but confirm their first season outside the Champions League places in 21 seasons. But it is not just the defeat that is so damning here, it is the manner in which they folded. Sanchez and Ozil were as bad as I’ve seen them all season, and without Koscielny, they look so poor at the back, bereft of leadership. You can’t see Arsenal announcing a Wenger contract extension any time soon. They lost 3-0, and the biggest disappointment is that nobody is particularly shocked.
Thanks for reading, and for your emails and tweets. See you next time. Bye!
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Savage.
Arsenal fan tv 📺 for me tonight 👀🍿
— Yannick Bolasie (@YannickBolasie) April 10, 2017
Arsenal trod off, each of their players’ eyes fixed firmly on the turf. The away fans sing “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.”
Sakho dances in front of the Palace fans. They bloody love him, they do.
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Full-time: Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal
Big Sam is smiling that smile. “Get that smile, I can’t imagine why we can’t get that smile.”
90+3 min: As a millennial, I’ve taken this badly. Might sack the last minute off for a Twix.
@michaelbutler18 just figured out what's wrong with Arse after that faffing. Other than Sanchez, maybe Mustafi, they're millennial in spirit
— Wekickballs (@wekickballs10) April 10, 2017
90+2 min: Palace fans cheer every Palace pass. Olé! Olé! Then they break into a bit of Bob.
90 min: Four minutes added on here. Arsenal have barely threatened since going 3-0 down. Palace have made it look easy, credit must go to them, as much as vitriol will go to Arsenal.
87 min: Sanchez hoofs a ball long, with the nearest Arsenal player 10 yards from where it lands. Twenty seconds later, Mustafi passes straight to McArthur. This is woeful.
86 min: Xhaka, on the edge of his own six-yard box, tries to dribble out of defence, between Townsend and Zaha. He’s tackled, and mightily lucky that Benteke doesn’t make it 4-0. Moments earlier, Benteke volleyed a shot at goal, Monreal doing well to clear the ball behind.
84 min: Arsenal look resigned to defeat. This is a damning performance, and the kind of performance that could tip the balance, Wenger-wise.
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82 min: Flamini is coming on for Palace. Big Sam is taking the mickey, now. Milivojevic off. He gets a standing ovation, as well he might.
81 min: Sakho is down with a head injury. Whilst he receives treatment, Palace’s boys get their breath back. Sakho is fine, back on his feet.
79 min: The biggest outlet for Arsenal is down the flanks. But time and time again, a good ball comes into the box, and there is nobody to finish off the move. Ramsey does not make those runs like he used to. Walcott, until he went off, was hopelessly lost out wide.
78 min: It’s all Arsenal in possession, but Palace are more than happy to get men behind the ball and protect their lead. They’ve got the pace to hit Arsenal on the break, too.
75 min: Who remembers when Arsenal tried to sign Cabaye? Trying to work out if 2013 seems like a long time ago, or like yesterday.
73 min: Palace make a change: Cabaye off, McArthur on. What a great goal Cabaye scored tonight. Probably not as good as this effort from Touré in the 2014 League Cup final – it was closer to the goal, and it didn’t quite find the postage stamp in the same way the Ivorian did, but similar.
71 min: Another great chance for Bellerin! For the first time he gets behind Schlupp and receives a great ball into this stride. He’s through on goal, albeit a bit wide, Hennessey comes out … Bellerin lifts the ball over him but it trickles wide, just out of the reach of the onrushing Giroud. Close call, but once again Bellerin could have done better.
70 min: Arsenal have been 3-0 down with 20-odd minutes to play once already this season …
Arsenal make their final change: Walcott off, Oxlade-Chamberlain on.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal (Milivojevic pen 68)
Martinez goes the right way, but Milivojevic buries his spot kick right into the corner. Great penalty, his first goal for Palace. 3-0!
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Penalty to Crystal Palace!
68 min: Martinez is penalised for bringing down Townsend! Replays show it is a little soft – Townsend went down easy – but in real time it looked a certain penalty. Bellerin hesitated, and Townsend just got a toe to the ball before Martinez. Milivojevic steps up …
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66 min: Giroud appeals for a penalty as a high ball comes into the box, but it’s just good, strong, physical defending from his compatriot Sakho. Nothing doing.
62 min: Arsenal simply weren’t ready! Some neat Palace passing down the right allowed Cabaye just a small amount of space, and the Frenchman expertly curled/lobbed his shot over 6ft4in Martinez into the top corner. 2-0!
“We are staying up, say we are staying up!” sing the Palace faithful, who went absolutely berserk in that corner, as Cabaye sprinted over to them in celebration.
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GOAL! Crystal Palace 2-0 Arsenal (Cabaye 62)
Palace double their lead. And what a strike this is!
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60 min: Arsenal make their subs, which are long overdue. Elneny comes off for Ramsey and Welbeck makes way for Giroud.
58 min: Chance for Bellerin! Ahhh, that is a horrible shank. Inside Palace’s penalty area, Sanchez gets his head up and spots Bellerin lurking at the back post. It’s an inch-perfect cross to the Spaniard, who from an acute angle balloons his volley behind for a goal kick.
56 min: Xhaka’s passing tonight has been woeful. Arsenal miss Cazorla more than ever.
54 min: Arsenal have finally got a hold on this second half, although they are yet to create anything of note. Welbeck has had 17 touches of the ball so far this evening. You can expect him to be hooked imminently, folks.
52 min: “Bellerin, like so many Arsenal players, is a fine player in a poorly functioning team which itself is the product of a strange, angsty, directionless club (is PLC the better term?) with no real sense of sporting identity and no concrete goals apart from the financial.” That, from Jim Myers.
Palace have a goal disallowed!
50 min: Palace have the ball in the net! But no, it’s offside! Benteke had an easy tap in, after Martinez could only parry Townsend’s shot. This is all Palace, and once again it’s Zaha on the right that is the catalyst, providing another good cross which made its way through to Townsend.
49 min: Zaha flies around the outside of the helpless Monreal once more and delivers a quality cross. Townsend lets it run to Benteke who controls it well and shoots on the turn. Bellerin slides in and makes a good block as the ball squirts behind. Let’s give the Spaniard his due, that was good defending and that shot was going in.
48 min: Zaha has been a cut above this evening. He’s a risk-taker, it doesn’t always come off, but he tries things, goes at his man and creates two-on-one situations. Which is a darn sight better than a sideways pass. And he’s had Monreal on toast all evening.
46 min: Forty-five seconds into the second half, and Sakho makes his first mistake of the match, getting the wrong side of Walcott wide on the right, and dragging the Englishman to the turf. Ozil aims his free-kick to the back post, and boots it straight out for a goal-kick.
Peeeeeeeeep! We’re off again, both teams are unchanged. Surprising.
@NickMiller79 quit football because he wanted to become a porn star, absolute sex case
— Tom (@Tomfahy2) April 10, 2017
Some context:
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A dig, courtesy of Jarrell Anthony.
“Bellerin reminds me of Walker and Rose a few years ago: a full back with great pace and determination but often woefully exposed by naive tactics. Put him in the current Spurs team and he’d be one of the best full-backs in Europe (within a couple of years).”
“I’m with you on Bellerin,” concurs Chris Howie. “A lot of Arsenal’s sorrow has come from that right back position. I’ve noticed his plateauing ever since being knocked out by Marcos Alonso.”
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Half-time: Crystal Palace 1-0 Arsenal
Who saw that one coming? Yep, we all did.
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45 min: Xhaka takes over corner duties from Ozil, and delivers a good one: Gabriel meeting the ball on the penalty spot. The ball loops toward the top corner but at no great pace, and Hennessey is able to save, catching the ball in both hands.
One minute added on here for the extras.
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44 min: Benteke, like a lightning rod, wins yet another header. Townsend is very close to the knockdown, but Mustafi reacts well, just hooking the ball clear. Townsend was ruled offside but Mustafi wasn’t to know. Good defending.
41 min: Palace spring to life. Once again, Zaha is the creator, once again it is Bellerin caught out of position. Zaha slips a cute ball through to Benteke, who has all the time in the world to turn, amble into Arsenal’s area, and unleash a fierce low shot that is well saved by Martinez at his near post.
39 min: Bellerin is not that good. Discuss.
How he gets near a Spain squad with Carvajal and Azpilicueta, I’m not sure.
36 min: Arsenal are having a lot of joy on the flanks, and are getting some dangerous crosses in, but don’t seem to have the bodies to finish them off. Twice low crosses have swept across Palace’s six-yard box, but good clearances from Kelly and Puncheon have seen the danger away.
34 min: Zaha gets Palace moving again, making Monreal dance a merry dance, before finding Townsend, who cuts in on his right but spoons his shot well over the bar. He is more than capable from that range though, particularly on his left.
32 min: Great block from Sakho! There was a hint of handball there, as Sanchez cannoned a shot against the Frenchman from all of five yards after good work from Ozil, but Palace got away with it. Arsenal are beginning to turn the screw. Palace need to see out this spell.
“Kloppie’s planting of Sakho in a team so that he would help take points off rivals for fourth is all part of his cunning plan,” emails Ian Copestake.
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30 min: Just a reminder, Walcott is playing.
28 min: Back to the game: Ozil, quiet so far, chips a ball over Palace’s defence, but Monreal, forward from left back, can’t control his cross. Wayward.
27 min: Besides:
Well it worked for Manchester United!
26 min: We have an email, from Joseph Day. “Please Michael I am an Arsenal fan, but for the love of god, give them the roasting they deserve+ then Wenger might leave.” Not sure Arsenal’s board of directors is reading this, but thanks for making me feel important.
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24 min: Sanchez’s prominence is growing. The Chilean finds some space on the left, cuts inside Ward, and curls a cross-shot to the back post. It misses everyone and misses the post by maybe a couple of yards. Dangerous ball though. The kind that Giroud would have thrived on.
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22 min: Yellow card for Mustafi. The German was twice bamboozled by Townsend on Palace’s left and decided enough was enough, tripping him cynically. He takes his medicine without complaint.
20 min: A world-class defensive header from Sakho stops a dangerous Bellerin cross from reaching Welbeck. Sanchez picks up the loose ball and makes Hennessey make a decent save. It’s a point made quite often, but the on-loan defenders contribution has been immense since arriving from Liverpool. I’m not sure why anybody ever doubted his class, the guy was made PSG captain at the age of 17.
17 min: That’s a really bad goal to concede, as far as Arsenal are concerned. Twice they are beaten to loose balls in the middle of the pitch, Townsend eventually working the ball out right to Cabaye, who feeds Zaha. The Ivory Coast international is completely unmarked, and even though he slips as he crosses, the ball crawls low across the six-yard box, and Townsend steals in, lifting the ball cleverly over the outrushing Martinez. Mustafi was caught on his heels there. 1-0.
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GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Arsenal (Townsend 17)
The former Tottenham winger opens the scoring!
“Looking at that picture I can only say that is cojones from Townsend celebrating the goal when the ball had not yet cleared the keeper!” emails Christian Oquendo.
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14 min: So nearly a defensive mix-up in Palace’s six-yard box. Welbeck hustles and bustles, as only Welbeck can, an awkward bouncing ball. Kelly initially loses his footing, but after a bit of shoulder barging, does well to shepherd it out for another corner.
12 min: It’s been a promising start from Palace, who have a good defensive shape and look dangerous on the counter-attack.
@michaelbutler18 it's not often I'm excited by a Palace team, but this one has just the right mix of grit and flair. Also Big Sam. All grit.
— Tom Colohue (@Colohue) April 10, 2017
11 min: Martinez has looked assured thus far in Arsenal’s goal, twice coming for aerial balls to relieve the pressure, but then nervously shanks a backpass straight out for a throw in.
9 min: Elneny goes close! His curling sidefoot effort would have found the corner, but for Hennessey’s outstretched fingertips, which turn the ball behind for a corner. Ozil takes, but it comes to nothing.
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8 min: Welbeck has looked bright up front for Arsenal so far. He’s got the nod tonight ahead of Giroud, who scored that scorpion kick against Palace earlier this season.
6 min: Oooooof! Milivojevic goes close from long range, lashing a left-foot shot just wide of Martinez’s right-hand post. A good-counter attack from Palace, Mustafi was lucky not to get a yellow for a ill-timed slide tackle in the build-up. Michael Oliver has a word instead. Lucky.
4 min: Zaha is fouled on four separate occasions (no player has been fouled more in the Premier League this season) and Palace have an opportunity to pack the box. Sakho does well to win the first header at the back post, but Arsenal clear.
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2 min: Bellerin loses out to Townsend, and suddenly (and not for the first time tonight I would suggest) Arsenal are exposed in the full-back position. Townsend gets to the byline but it’s a lofted, slow cross, and Martinez comes to claim. Arsenal’s first-choice keeper making just his second Premier League start this season, after injuries to Cech and Ospina.
Peeeeeeeeep! And we’re off.
Any thoughts, do get in touch: email michael.butler@theguardian.com or tweet @michaelbutler18.
The teams are out! Theo Walcott leads out his troops, dressed in their away yellow and grey strip.
Palace, meanwhile, are led out by Jason Puncheon. Flamini is chewing the ear off his former team-mate Ozil. The home crowd are in excellent voice, as usual.
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I have to admit that I didn’t know a lot about Luka Milivojevic before he signed for Palace on deadline day, but have been mightily impressed by the Serbian since. His record since joining: played six, won four, lost two. Not bad.
This is an excellent feature, by Ed Aarons. Do take a look.
“Lingard hasn’t had his concentration stolen by a Little Mix!” emails Robert Coughlan.
Oooooof! The guy is allowed to have a girlfriend …
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History says this will be a difficult evening for Palace, but you get the feeling that they will get a result tonight, of some sort.
1 - Crystal Palace have won only one of their 15 Premier League games against Arsenal (D3 L11). Clipped.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 10, 2017
15 - Sam Allardyce has lost 15 PL games vs Arsene Wenger, the most defeats he has against any manager in the competition (W4 D7). Scourge.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 10, 2017
Arsenal were late at arriving at Selhurst Park, due to traffic, and have only just emerged for their pre-match warm up, only 25 minutes before kick-off.
Claudio Ranieri is the guest on MNF. He’s been doing the rounds recently, he went to see his ol’ mucker Antonio Conte at Chelsea on Thursday. It’s impossible not to like this man – he’s a bundle of energy, talking about his early Leicester days, inheriting a back three, and starting N’Golo Kanté on the left wing. “I just had to find a place for him in the team. Then I moved him into the middle.”
He refers to Danny Drinkwater as ‘The Drinkwater’ and Jeffrey Schlupp – now of Palace of course – as ‘Schlooooop’.
Palace, meanwhile, are beset by injury problems: nine of their first team are out. This is the same side that played terribly and lost to Southampton last week. Arsenal are also unchanged from the side that beat West Ham.
You have to wonder what is going through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s head. Wenger makes a big statement in declaring how important he is the future of Arsenal on Sunday, Wenger leaves him out of the starting XI again on Monday night.
The Ox has a little over 12 months remaining on his contract, and at a time when Jesse Lingard, probably behind Oxlade-Chamberlain in the England pecking order is picking up a new contract worth near to £100,000-a-week at Manchester United, it would not be a surprise to see him leave Arsenal this (or next) summer.
Tonight's heroes and villains
Crystal Palace: Hennessey, Ward, Kelly, Sakho, Schlupp, Milivojevic, Cabaye, Zaha, Puncheon, Townsend, Benteke.
Subs: Speroni, Flamini, McArthur, Fryers, KaiKai, Sako, Delaney.
Arsenal: Martinez, Bellerín, Mustafi, Gabriel, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Walcott, Özil, Welbeck, Sánchez.
Subs: Gibbs, Mertesacker, Ramsey, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Macey.
Man in black: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
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Preamble
Both these teams are sitting pretty precariously in their respective league positions, Palace poised two places above the bottom three, Arsenal two places below the top four. But both teams have two games in hand over the teams occupying 18th (Swansea) and 4th (Manchester City). Win both of those games and Arsenal will be one point shy of City. Win one of theirs and you suspect Palace have probably done enough to secure their Premier League status for another year. A lot of riding on this game.
If we were in the business of hyperbole, we might point to Allardyce v Wenger: Episode 4,592, or suggest this is a London derby, but the truth is that the frosty relationship between the two men has thawed in recent years and Palace probably haven’t considered Arsenal rivals since the Gunners left Greenwich.
Palace are far too good to be in the mire, as they proved at Chelsea last week, just over a week ago. Arsenal are probably where they deserve to be. Arsenal could win 4-0 here, or lose 2-0, and nobody would be particularly surprised. That’s the closest to a hard sell you’re going to get.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
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