Per Mertesacker believes Arsenal need to take the final few minutes against Crystal Palace as a warning.

Arsenal seemed to have the game under control with injury time remaining on the clock but David Ospina was called into action for his first serious save in the 93rd minute, Palace scored in the 94th and then hit the post in the 95th.

Taking a 2-0 lead into the break, Arsenal struggled to impose themselves on a feisty Palace side who put in what Alan Pardew described as their best performance of the season.

Speaking to Arsenal.com, the club’s vice-captain issued a warning to his teammates.

He said

“At the end they tried to put us some pressure and get some strikers on.

“They nearly scored the equaliser so we were a bit lucky at the end. Overall, we are absolutely delighted with the three points and we move on.

“They have pace up front and good headers of the ball too. They nearly scored in the first half and at the end they had quite a few chances.

“Sometimes you lose games, especially at the end. We were lucky today but that was a bit of a warning for us not to switch off too early.

“As I said, I’m absolutely delighted to take the three points.”

Next up for Arsenal is a slight change of focus with Monaco arriving for the Champions League and a real chance for the side to make it past the last 16 for the first time since the 09/10 season.