Arsenal struggled to break down Crystal Palace on Thursday night, with Palace emerging with a point after a solid defensive display.
Arsenal could have conceivably gone into eighth with a huge win, whereas Crystal Palace had the chance to leapfrog their London rivals, who started the night in 11th.
Mikel Arteta called on Emile Smith Rowe to start for the side after his impressive FA Cup showing against Newcastle United, but aside from one clever cross for Alexandre Lacazette which was diverted by Hector Bellerin, he offered little in the first half.
It was Palace who had the better chances, with James Tomkins crashing a header against the crossbar, and moments later Christian Benteke lept to head to the top corner, forcing Bernd Leno to dive to his left to beat the ball away.
In the second half, Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles had shots on goal but Arteta soon introduced Nicolas Pepe to try to change things up, but Benteke and Wilfried Zaha kept Arsenal’s defence occupied.
With 10 minutes remaining, Jordan Ayew was introduced by Roy Hodgson as they looked to stretch the Arsenal defence with the end in sight, while Arteta added Eddie Nketiah to his forward line in place of Lacazette. Both teams had chances and will feel they missed a good opportunity to take all three points.
Here’s how the game unfolded on Thursday night.