“We had a game-plan that was to start slow and not let them have a fast start, and then build as the game went, and we did”.
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The Gunners seemed to be cruising to victory after Alexis Sanchez’s first-half header had given them an advantage they rarely looked like relinquishing.
Yannick Bolasie struck nine minutes from time to cancel out Alex Sanchez’s opener for the Gunners to move them on to 39 points, nine points ahead of Sunderland, who have a game in hand.
And afterwards Cech couldn’t hide his frustration at his side’s inability to build on their lead before being punished by Bolasie.
It was a disastrous afternoon, capped by the miserable fact that Cech should have saved Bolasie’s 82nd-minute shot, which was only the second effort on his goal in the entire match.
Palace are not guaranteed safety from relegation just yet, and will take no chances in risking demotion with just five games left to play.
“We should have seen the game off and it’s two dropped points”. For us it will be a fight until the end to stay in the top four.
It’s a London derby that Arsenal have dominated recently, but they’re also 0-1-2 in London derbies at home this season.
Arsenal paid for their wastefulness in the 81st minute as the Eagles levelled matters after testing Petr Cech a few minutes earlier.
“I am not in the mood to dream about the Championship”, said Wenger.
Adebayor made more than 100 appearances between 2006 and 2009 at Arsenal, and joined Palace in January after being released by Tottenham following a protracted contract stand-off.
He added: “We’ve got people who can go there and hurt them, and it’s up to us to make sure we capitalise on that”.
“In the end we got caught with basically a unique shot on goal from Crystal Palace. It is very frustrating”.
Arsenal continued to control proceedings after the interval, but their profligate finishing and inefficiency at turning possession into clear-cut chances ultimately cost them two points.
“I think we lacked a bit of sharpness on the day and as well we had a bit of free confidence in our head after the result against West Ham where we felt we had absolutely to do a job today”.
“I’ve been saying all season they’re two players short and my view hasn’t changed on that”. The German should have scored after being put through on goal, but he was kept out by the keeper.
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“We are a team who likes to take the initiative and with the initiative you expect goals”, he told Standard Sport.
