Sports
Gunners Top-four Hopes Suffer Big Dent
Arsenal missed out on the chance to boost their top-four hopes after they were beaten by fellow London club Crystal Palace at home.
The Gunners were stunned by the Eagles at home when a win would have taken them as far as third position on the table.
Arsenal finished on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller against Crystal Palace as they were beaten 3-2.
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke ended a 19-game goal drought to give his team a first-half lead against the Gunners.
Arsenal should have been given a penalty in the first half but the home players’ protest was incorrectly waved away by centre referee Jon Moss.
The hosts were lackadaisical in the first half and Arsenal manager Unai Emery made two changes which worked well in the first few minutes of the second half after Mesut Ozil scored the equaliser for his team.
Arsenal were in the ascendancy until centre back Shkrodan Mustafi produced a moment of madness to allow Wilfried Zaha score a second goal for the visitors.
James McArthur added a third goal eight minutes later to give Crystal Palace a two-goal cushion.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for Arsenal in the final ten minutes to setup a grandstand finish but Crystal Palace held on to take on three points to secure Premier League safety while the Gunners’ position in the top-four is under serious threat from London rivals Chelsea who play at home to Burnley on Monday night.
