First-half goals from Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard were not enough to beat Crystal Palace, as the visitors twice came from behind to claim a point at Emirates Stadium.
Kiwior put us ahead within the opening three minutes with an excellent header, only for Palace to level through an Eberechi Eze volley from a corner.
Leandro Trossard kept his composure inside the area to restore our lead before half-time, but Jean-Philippe Mateta capitalised on a stray pass at the back to equalise late on.
The result extended our unbeaten run in the league to eight matches, but five of those have been costly draws.
Early opener
Both teams came into the game with huge semi-finals to look forward to. Our next game is the first leg of our Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain, of course, while Palace have a date at Wembley against Aston Villa in the FA Cup this Saturday.
But for tonight, all minds were on the Premier League, and it took us less than three minutes to open the scoring.
Martin Odegaard swung in a free-kick from out wide on the left flank, and Kiwior rose majestically to head powerfully past Dean Henderson. It was a masterful header, from near the penalty spot, by a man bang in form.
Eze equalises
The visitors came back. Daichi Kamada had a shot deflected just wide inside the area, and from the resulting corner, former Gunner Eddie Nketiah beat David Raya in the air, only to head off target.
Nketiah then raced onto a long ball over the top, and his low ball across the face of goal was just about intercepted by Kiwior.
At the other end, some nice interchange between Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard resulted in a chance for Rice when the ball popped up nicely for him to strike from the edge of the area, but his shot whistled just wide.
Palace were giving as good as they got, and levelled thanks to some wonderful technique from Eberechi Eze. Adam Wharton’s corner found his England teammate outside the area, and his first-time volley bounced into the net via the post.
Moments later, Eze created a good chance for Nketiah in the box. The striker spun and shot in the six-yard box, but Kiwior stuck out his leg to make a vital block.
Trossard again
We were seeing plenty of the ball, but in terms of goalscoring chances, the visitors had enjoyed the better of it in the first half. But we soon redressed that balance when Trossard put us back ahead.
Jurrien Timber’s pass into the Belgian had plenty of pace, but Trossard killed it instantly. He stayed calm in possession, twisted his marker, then fired back across the keeper into the bottom corner.
The ex-Brighton man - who scored twice at Ipswich at the weekend - certainly enjoyed his celebrations in front of the Palace fans.
Both teams go close
Early in the second half, an Odegaard free-kick caused havoc in the area, and William Saliba’s shot was blocked as Palace scrambled to safety.
Palace remained dangerous up front. Justin Devenny forced Raya to backpedal and push a miscued header over the bar, and from the corner, Raya saved well from a Marc Guehi header at the near post.
Another Palace corner caused more confusion when Daniel Munoz’s header back across somehow eluded everyone inside a crowded six-yard box.
Gabriel Martinelli did have the ball in the net for us, only for it to be ruled out as the ball had just crossed the byline before Timber hooked his cross into the danger area. VAR had several close looks at the incident before confirming the on-field decision.
A lovely Odegaard turn in midfield sparked an attack on the left, where Martinelli crossed for substitute Bukayo Saka in the box. His shot was palmed away by a flying Henderson save.
Mateta pounces late
The visitors’ own substitute, Mateta, tied the score again in the final 10 minutes.
Saliba’s pass outside his own area sold Odegaard short. Mateta was there to dart in, take the ball and lift an inch-perfect shot just under the bar.
As the game entered eight minutes of injury time, Martinelli had a wonderful chance to retake our lead. Quick-thinking from Kieran Tierney released the Brazilian with a throw, he raced into the area but screwed his shot into the side netting with Saka lurking in the middle.
FACTS AND STATS
This was only the third time we failed to go on to win a Premier League game under Mikel Arteta in which we twice took the lead; the others were 2-2 draws against Tottenham (September 2023) and Liverpool (October 2024).
This was our ninth Premier League draw in a match we were leading in this season, two more than any other side. It's the most by a team in a season since Tottenham in 2007/08 (also 9).
Since Oliver Glasner's first game in charge of Crystal Palace, only Alexander Isak (32), Erling Haaland (31) and Mohamed Salah (30) have more Premier League goals than Jean-Philippe Mateta (27).
Since the start of last season, we have scored 38 set-piece goals (excluding penalties) in the Premier League, six more than any other side.
Jakub Kiwior’s headed goal after two minutes and 26 seconds was our earliest in a Premier League London derby game since Tomas Rosicky gave us the lead after 72 seconds away at Tottenham in March 2014.
Eberechi Eze netted his 30th Premier League goal for Crystal Palace, becoming the fourth player to reach that tally, after Wilfried Zaha (68), Jean-Philippe Mateta (38) and Christian Benteke (35).
William Saliba completed 83 passes in the first half, the second-most by an Arsenal player in the first 45 minutes of a Premier League game on record (2003/04 onwards), behind Granit Xhaka vs West Brom in December 2016 (85).
What’s next
We are not in action this weekend – this fixture was moved forward from its original date due to Palace playing in the FA Cup on Saturday. So our next game is at home to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final. Our next Premier League appointment is also at Emirates Stadium, against Bournemouth on Saturday, May 3 at 5.30pm (UK time).
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