Arsenal faced Crystal Palace on Sunday in a tie that was expected to deliver lots of excitement and talking points and it didn’t disappoint. The Gunners raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes thanks to a volley by Center Defender, Sokratis Papastathopoulos inside the 18-year after Palace failed to clear their lines from the first corner of the game and another from David Luiz.
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David Luiz made it two in quick time double when he connected with another half volley inside the 18-yard again from only the second corner of the game.
Credit to Crystal Palace, they started to settle in the game and create chances of their own which eventually led to the first controversial point of the game, Referee Martin Atkinson issued a straight yellow to Wilfred Zaha for an alleged simulation in Arsenal’s box but was overruled after an extensive VAR consultation. A penalty was awarded which Luka Milivojevic slotted home to make it 2-1 at the break.
Palace pressed hard in the second half creative chance after chance and was rewarded for their tenacity a little over the hour mark when Jordan Ayew connected with a cross to put his header past Bernd Leno in goal to bring the tie to 2-2.
Christian Benteke came on for goalscorer, Jordan Ayew who reluctantly alked off the pitch and Arsenal brought on Bukayo Saka for Captain, Granit Xhaka or went straight down the dug-out after telling the fans to “f**k off”.
The drama continued when Sokratis thought he’d given Arsenal the winner only for VAR to rule out the goal for no apparent reason. 2-2 it ended at the Emirates as the Gunners squandered the chance to move within two points of the top four. They now sit fifth on the Log with 4 points adrift the leading pack.
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