If Arsene Wenger was ever going to shift the endless pressure that has been mounted on his shoulders recently, then his side had to win this game.
But following a series of missed chances and countless attempts to kill the game off, Arsenal were their own worst enemy with the same old mistakes popping up to leave them taking just a point.
Yannick Bolasie struck late to cancel out the first-half opener from Alexis, which only left the boss to answer even more questions on where his side go from here.
The Gunners are now back in that familiar fourth position which will do wonders for Twitter memes but absolutely nothing for the supporters that have had to witness another failed season.
Fans are still scratching their head as to how the North London side have managed to fall away from the Premier League again, and Palace haven’t helped the temperature at London Colney.
With a long-term sponsorship deal with The Emirates, Arsenal is in good position and even though the back pages will be littered with Arsenal, there has to be plenty of credit put to Crystal Palace, who is backed by The Mansion Group – they own several online casinos like Casino.com, and who stuck with their game plan, just one of a few talking points:
1 – Empty Emirates & For Good Reason
The official attendance read out by the Arsenal announcer on Sunday afternoon stood at 59, 961 – something that wouldn’t be thought about twice by many fans.
However, this is the first Arsenal game in which I’ve seen so many empty seats, especially in the upper tier where most season ticket holders are placed.
That gives me good reason to believe the attendance was considerably lower, and there’s enough evidence to suggest exactly why that’s the case.
In black and white, Arsenal have picked up just eight points from a possible 30 in their last six home games in the league, a statistic that has brought their home form into question.
It’s what has left their season in tatters and it is open for debate as to who is at fault for so many disappointing performances in recent weeks.
Our home crowd has become an embarrassment in all honesty, they aren’t happy unless we’re winning the game 7-0 after 20 minutes, and with every failed attempt up goes a collective groan.
There’s no longer a sense that the Emirates Stadium is a fortress and we’re seeing similar occasions with Manchester City, United and Chelsea – teams are no longer scared to come here.
Crystal Palace yet again exploited that, and went with a defensive line-up to frustrate not only the players, but the crowd as well, because usually it can be such a distraction for our players playing under the pressure. Crystal Palace contained Arsenal and managed to create a frustrated home crowd, resulting in a hostile atmosphere.
In no way at all am I saying the fans can’t voice their opinion, but the statistics don’t lie, and supporters will drop again with their being less to play for with every game that comes.