Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted his team must regain their sharpness ahead of next week’s Uefa Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain after a frustrating 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday effectively ended their faint Premier League title hopes.
Second-placed Arsenal are now 12 points behind leaders Liverpool with only four matches remaining, and Arne Slot’s side can secure the title on Sunday if they avoid defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
While the Gunners’ domestic challenge has been waning for weeks, Arteta had hoped for a convincing display to build momentum ahead of Arsenal’s first Champions League semi-final appearance in 15 years. Instead, his side delivered an error-strewn performance that saw them twice surrender a lead to a spirited Palace outfit.
“We are disappointed with the result and performance,” Arteta said. “We didn’t find enough consistency in actions to dominate the game. In many aspects we should have done better. Palace were very organised and deserved credit but we dropped our standards.”
Jakub Kiwior opened the scoring for Arsenal with a close-range header in the third minute, but Eberechi Eze equalised for Palace with a crisp volley just before the half-hour mark. Leandro Trossard restored Arsenal’s lead shortly before the break, only for substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta to lob an out-of-position David Raya in the 83rd minute to earn Palace a point.
Arteta was critical of his team’s inability to maintain control of the match, citing a lack of urgency and precision.
“We gave the ball away in simple ways and we were late in everything we did,” he said. “We have to do much better.”
The performance raised concerns ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with PSG, who have already knocked out Liverpool and Aston Villa in their run to the last four. Arsenal are aiming to win the competition for the first time in club history, with Arteta describing the semi-final as the “most important game of the season”.
Adding to Arsenal’s worries is an injury to Mikel Merino, who missed the Palace game and remains a doubt for the PSG fixture. The Spanish midfielder has recently played in an advanced role due to injuries to Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz.
“We will have to wait and see as they were not able to be in the squad here,” Arteta said when asked about the availability of Merino and defender Ben White.
The draw was Arsenal’s ninth in a match they were leading this season – the most by a Premier League side since Tottenham in 2007/08 – and their 13th overall. That pattern of relinquishing control has been costly, allowing Liverpool to edge closer to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
Despite the setback, Arteta insisted the squad’s focus remains intact and believes the six-day break before hosting PSG will prove valuable.
“We have spoken about avoiding our focus being elsewhere. We have enough time to prepare for PSG, but today we didn’t deliver enough to win the game,” he said. “It is nice to have a long gap. We need it and we need players back to full strength. We have so many players out and not available, and therefore you drop certain standards.”
Crystal Palace, who face Aston Villa in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, opted to rest several key players but produced a spirited display in north London.
“It was not our goal to decide the title, it was our goal to win the game,” said manager Oliver Glasner. “A draw is a very good result. More important is the performance. We are back on the track.”
