LONDON – Crystal Palace dominated from the start to beat Arsenal 3-0 in the English Premier League as Patrick Vieira’s side dealt his former team a big blow in the fight for a top-four finish.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta apologised for his team’s “unacceptable” performance.
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew put the Eagles in control after 24 minutes and Wilfried Zaha´s second-half penalty added deserved gloss to the score for the hosts, who extended their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions and moved up to ninth in the table.
For Arsenal, the loss means it’s now behind fourth-place Tottenham on goal difference, albeit with a game in hand, AP reported.
Palace had held Manchester City to a goalless draw three weeks ago and the hosts made life difficult for the away side in the opening exchanges.
The opening goal came when a deep free kick by Gallagher found Joachim Andersen at the far post, who directed the ball across goal for Mateta to head in from close range for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Eight minutes later, Andersen produced a trademark cross field pass from the back and Ayew was able to control the ball before he bent his shot around Ramsdale and into the bottom corner.
Manager Arteta brought on Gabriel Martinelli at halftime in place of struggling left-back Nuno Tavares, who was filling in for the injured Kieran Tierney.
Arsenal did improve after the hour mark and Emile Smith Rowe should have done better when the ball dropped for him but his eight-yard effort was weak and straight at goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Martin Odegaard had an equally fine chance with 23 minutes left after being set up by one of substitute Eddie Nketiah´s first touches and yet the Norway international could only steer his shot wide.
Zaha, who had wanted to join Arsenal in the summer of 2019, then put the game to bed in the 74th minute.
After he won the ball by the halfway line, the Ivory Coast attacker dribbled past Gabriel and ran at Ben White before Odegaard clipped his ankle in the area.
Referee Paul Tierney took a couple of seconds but pointed to the penalty spot and Zaha did the rest to fire home his 11th goal of the season.
Elsewhere, Tottenham powered into fourth place with a 5-1 rout of Newcastle, while West Ham’s 2-1 victory pushed Everton deeper into relegation trouble.
Antonio Conte’s side staged a stirring comeback to make it five wins from their last six league games.
Newcastle struck first through Fabian Schar, but Ben Davies equalised before the break in north London.
Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn netted after half-time as Tottenham climbed above bitter rivals Arsenal.
Tottenham is firmly in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League, despite Conte’s claim that it would be a miracle to finish in the top four.
“It’s very difficult to be in the race for the Champions League. We want to stay there until the end. We have to continue to play this way with intensity,” Conte said according to AFP.
“I’m very happy. I was happy before the international break. I said it was a pity we had to stop. I asked my players today to start in the same way we left.
Newcastle snatched the lead against the run of play in the 39th minute when Schar’s free-kick from the edge of the area caught Hugo Lloris unsighted as it evaded the Tottenham keeper’s weak attempted save.
