Arsenal Fail To Reclaim Fourth After Big Derby Loss
05 April, 2022
Arsenal missed the chance to reclaim fourth spot on the Premier League table after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace.
Premier League
Result: Crystal Palace 3-0 Arsenal
Date: 04 April 2022
Venue: Selhurst Park
Nuno Tavares and Cedric Soares started for the North London outfit, while Kieran Tierney and Nicolas Pepe missed out through injury and illness respectively.
It was Palace who got off to the lively start as Joachim Anderson headed Conor Gallagher's free-kick into the path of Jean-Philippe Mateta, who headed past Aaron Ramsdale.
The lead was doubled in the 23rd minute as Anderson turned provider once again to pick out Jordan Ayew with a long ball , before the Ghanian slotted into the far corner. Arsenal, meanwhile, struggled to get their regular passing game going in the first half and failed to trouble Palace shot-stopper Guita in the opening 45 minutes. Mikel Arteta responded by introducing Brazilian striker Gabriel Martinelli for Tavares at the start of the second half, with the latter struggling in the first stanza.
The Gunners should have been level in the 68th minute when some neat passing ended with Eddie Nketiah teeing up Martin Odegaard who sent a first-time effort from 10 yards out.
Arsenal were made to pay for that miss a few minutes later after Odegaard gave away a penalty for a foul on Zaha, who made no mistake from the spot to make it 3-0.
Nketiah nearly bagged a consolation for the visitors with seven minutes left on the clock as his curling effort crashed against the upright.
In the end, Palace were able to hold for the clean sheet as and moved up to ninth spot while Arsenal remain fifth, but level on points with fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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