Arsenal threw away another two-goal lead on Sunday to draw with Crystal Palace, in a game filled with controversy.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal battles for possession with Patrick van Aanholt of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium on October 27, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal battles for possession with Patrick van Aanholt of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Crystal Palace at Emirates Stadium on October 27, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Everything seemed to be going well at first, as Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz helped Arsenal race into a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, converting after a couple of set pieces.

Luka Milivojevic brought Palace back into the game with a penalty after VAR ruled that there was a foul on Wilfried Zaha, before Jordan Ayew made it 2-2 early in the second half.

There was plenty of time for Arsenal to find a winner, and they thought they had when Sokratis Papastathopoulos scored a third. Then VAR got involved again to rule it out for no good reason, and the match finished 2-2.

Before that late drama, the big talking point from the match was the crowd’s reaction to Granit Xhaka’s substitution and his subsequent response. It’s too complicated an issue to go into in detail here, but let’s just say it was embarrassing on both sides.

Latest Arsenal injury updates and news

For now, here are our playing ratings for the match.

1Goalkeeper and Defence

  • Bernd Leno 6 – It’s another week where Leno concedes two goals and you can hardly blame him for either of them. He was always up quickly after a catch, throwing or kicking the ball forward to start a counter-attack, which was helpful.
  • Calum Chambers 4 – Had a really rough time up against Zaha. Chambers was clearly on top in the aerial duels, but it was too easy to get in behind him or take him on one-on-one, which is what led to the game-changing penalty.
  • Sokratis Papastathopoulos 7 – Should have had a brace, if not for VAR, and he did pretty well defensively too.
  • David Luiz 6 – Scored one of his own, but probably should have done more to pick up Jordan Ayew for the second goal. Played some great long passes forward.
  • Kieran Tierney 6 – Worked hard, won most of his individual duels and put a few good crosses in. Perhaps guilty of too many stray passes but he wasn’t helped having Dani Ceballos for support on the left.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and Substitutes

Back