Mikel Arteta didn’t hold back in expressing his frustration with Arsenal’s lackluster performance in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
The Gunners took the lead twice, but Jean-Philippe Mateta came off the bench to score a stunning equalizer over David Raya in the 83rd minute. The draw left Arsenal stuck on 79 points, now only level with Liverpool, who could secure the Premier League title with a win or draw against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
“I’m disappointed with the result and the performance,” Arteta admitted after his side’s 13th league draw of the season. “We never found the consistency in many areas to truly dominate the game. We had possession, we went ahead twice, but we couldn’t take control and didn’t perform to our usual standards.”
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“When you’re not at your best and you’re ahead twice, you have to close out the game, but we couldn’t do that — especially with the second goal. We’ve struggled to finish games for various reasons, and the margins have been too small.”
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner praised his team for frustrating Arsenal and even outshooting them 15-12. “I’ve watched many Arsenal games, and I can’t remember a team creating as many clear chances against them as we did,” Glasner said. Only Manchester City have registered more shots on target in a Premier League match against Arsenal this season.
Despite naming a strong lineup, Arteta was asked if some players were distracted by next week’s Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain. “Hopefully not,” he responded. “I don’t want to use that as an excuse. We’ve had a lot of injuries, and many players weren’t available, so we’ve been very thin. But credit to Palace, they’re a well-organized and tough team, and we simply weren’t at our best today.”
