Arsenal dropped points for the first time in 12 games against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, in a very frustrating afternoon for Unai Emery’s side.
Arsenal came from behind to lead for much of the second half against Palace, but let that lead slip in disappointing fashion late on.
The hosts benefitted from two dodgy penalty decisions, with the first coming directly after a foul on Rob Holding and the second the result of a dive from Wilfried Zaha. However, the Gunners needed a better overall performance to put the game beyond their opponents and to avoid relying on those small margins.
Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match.
Goalkeeper and Defence
Bernd Leno 7
Having won the number one spot, there wasn’t much Leno could do to prove he deserves it on this occasion. He only had to make one save which wasn’t from the penalty spot and, unfortunately, he couldn’t stop two good spot kicks from Luka Milivojevic.
The German’s passing was as accurate as ever, with just one ball failing to find its target all game.
Hector Bellerin 6
Bellerin had a relatively average half, before being substituted during the break due to an injury. He made a couple of good blocks, but he should’ve finished an excellent chance when he found space in the box. His first touch wasn’t good enough and taking a second invited the defenders to challenge.
Shkodran Mustafi 5
Mustafi conceded a first-half penalty, failed to make the tactical foul in the build-up to the second penalty and didn’t close Meyer down quickly enough for one other dangerous attempt. Winning a lot of aerial duels (as usual) doesn’t excuse any of that.
Rob Holding 6.5
Holding’s passing was significantly better than his defensive teammates, and he didn’t make any major errors. Still, he has to take a share of the blame for Palace having so many good chances.
Granit Xhaka 6.5
It was all going so well for Xhaka until the end. He’d scored a fantastic free-kick, and held Zaha, Townsend and Kouyate at bay for most of the match, then he stuck a leg out when he didn’t need to and let Zaha swan dive over it.
This isn’t the Swiss international’s position, and he shouldn’t have been left isolated one-vs-one against one of the league’s top dribblers with minutes to go, so I’m not giving him all of the blame here.
Midfield
Matteo Guendouzi 7
Guendouzi made a game-high six tackles, only matched by the impressive Wan-Bissaka. Defensively he certainly did his job, but his passing wasn’t quite as effective as it often has been, as he didn’t create any chances.
Lucas Torreira 8
Torreira continues to prove an excellent summer buy. He made three interceptions, four clearances and three tackles, which is standard stuff from him this season. No outfield player completed a greater percentage of their passes for Arsenal than Torreira. He also won a number of free-kicks, including the one Xhaka scored from.
Despite giving Guendouzi and Torreira high individual ratings, I’m still unconvinced they make an effective pairing. Arsenal didn’t create enough in the half the duo played against Chelsea, and the same was true against Palace.
Mesut Özil 6.5
Özil didn’t have his best game, struggling to create as much as he normally does. It was still a bit strange to see him taken off for Welbeck, rather than Aubameyang or Lacazette. Arsenal were always going to have difficulties scoring another after that.
Forwards
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7.5
Given how little Arsenal created over the 90 minutes, Aubameyang deserves great credit for finishing the one chance that fell his way. That’s what he’s in the team to do. He perhaps lost possession a little too often though.
Alex Iwobi 6
Iwobi was due an off game, after so many good performances this season. Perhaps as a result of playing in his less-favoured position on the right, the 22-year-old struggled. He couldn’t link up with teammates particularly effectively, he lost the ball more than anyone else on the team, but he did counter pretty well.
Alexandre Lacazette 6.5
Lacazette won the ball back a lot but also gave it away in a key moment for Palace’s second goal. He needs to start putting chances away again after a few games without a goal. In all honesty, there weren’t many for him to take on this occasion.
Substitutes
Stephan Lichtsteiner 7
This was probably Lichtsteiner’s best performance for Arsenal so far. He battled hard against Zaha, making necessary fouls as far away from the goal as possible, and he was better on the ball than against Sporting Lisbon. It’s a shame the Gunners ended up conceding from something he could do nothing about.
Danny Welbeck 6
Welbeck coming on for Özil wasn’t a change that made much sense, and the Englishman didn’t really have any impact on the game at all.
Aaron Ramsey 6
Ramsey was slightly more involved than Welbeck after his late substitution. He needed to put away a good chance created by Xhaka though, mistiming his header.