Arteta gets punished for all-out attack in Palace draw

Crystal Palace stole a point from an Arsenal side still in need of work at Selhurst Park, as Jordan Ayew cancelled out a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opener, with the Arsenal captain later seeing red for a horror tackle.

Mikel Arteta went bold in his fourth game as Arsenal manager, starting £72 million club record signing, Nicholas Pepe alongside headline attackers Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Aubameyang, with Crystal Palace eventually capitalising on an overly attacking line-up.

For the first-half though, and large parts of the game, Arsenal made the most of their lopsided XI, with the front four combining beautifully for Aubameyang’s opener 12 minutes in, with a series of deft passes before Lacazette found his teammate for a tidy finish.

Things looked good for the Gunners, but they were unable to double their lead, then just 10 minutes after the break, Palace top scorer, Jordan Ayew, continued his excellent season, seeing his heavily deflected effort sail over Bernd Leno and into the Arsenal goal.

And things then got worse for Arsenal, with an overly eager Aubameyang planting his foot into Max Meyer’s ankle. The German was extremely lucky to leave the pitch with his leg unbroken, while the Arsenal captain’s initial yellow card was changed to red after VAR review.

©Getty / Charlotte Wilson/Offside

Arsenal though, still should’ve won the game, an emerging Pepe found space to strike Vicente Guaita’s post with a decent effort, before the Spaniard made a big stop from Lacazette’s point-black rebound.

A heavily injured Crystal Palace side stay a point ahead of Arsenal in ninth, thanks once again to star performers Ayew and Guaita, with loan signing Cenk Tosun making a substitute appearance.

Elsewhere in London, in the Championship’s early kick-off, Brentford stormed to an early 3-0 lead against rivals QPR with goals from Said Benrahma, Brian Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins. QPR pulled a goal from Nahki Wells, but yet another Bees win ensures they will finish the weekend in third place.
 

🥇Man of the Match, Ollie Watkins of @BrentfordFC
🔴 Involved in 9 goals in his last 9 league appearances (7 goals, 2 assists)
🔴 Joint-top scorer in the @SkyBetChamp this season with 18 goals pic.twitter.com/c129z7xzjO

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) January 11, 2020