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[Ratings & goals] Arsenal 2-3 Palace: Mustafi horror-show costs Gunners

By mac14 on April 21, 2019

Arsenal wasted a great opportunity to go third in the table after crashing to a shambolic 3-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace this afternoon.

Some shocking defending from Shkodran Mustafi, Carl Jenkinson and Dinos Mavropanos allowed Christian Benteke to head home from close range in the 17th minute to give the visitors the lead.

After seeing a blatant penalty appeal waived away by Jon Moss, Unai Emery changed things up at half-time and we made it 1-1 within minutes of the restart with Mesut Ozil scoring with a stunning finish from a tight angle.

However, a shocking error from Shkodran Mustafi allowed Wilfried Zaha to make it 1-2 and more poor marking from a corner in the 77th minute saw Palace make it 1-3 through James McArthur.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back as he lashed home a low drive from 20 yards in the 77th minute but Palace held on to consign Arsenal to a 3-2 defeat which leaves us fourth in the table.

These are my ratings:

Leno 7/10 | Made a stunning save to keep it at 1-0 just before half time but badly let down by those in front of him.

Jenkinson 3/10 | Played Benteke onside for the opener and looked out of his depth at times. Subbed at half-time.

Mustafi 1/10 | What a horrendous player and this was one of the worst individual displays I’ve seen in a long time. Didn’t mark Benteke for his goal and made a basic mistake for the Zaha goal you wouldn’t see in Sunday league. Should never play for the club again.

Koscielny 6/10 | Have to feel sorry for him having to play alongside Mustafi. Put in a solid display but can’t be held accountable for those he plays next to.

Mavropanos 4/10 | Gave away a cheap free-kick for the opener. Nice run forward a few minutes later but was poor at the back. Subbed at half-time.

Kolasinac 6/10 | Went close with a well-hit half-volley in the second half and was once again a danger down the left. Too many poor crosses though.

Elneny 4/10 | Did absolutely nothing once again. I just don’t see what he offers the team – especially when he plays next to Guendouzi. They also started together at Everton and I’m not surprised we’ve lost both games. Rightly subbed. No idea why he started.

Guendouzi 4/10 | Way too many easy passes and not enough imagination. Been off the pace for several weeks now.

Ozil 6/10 | Woeful in the first half but improved after the break when he made it 1-1 with a stunning finish. Should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck after that goal but didn’t do enough to drive us on to victory.

Lacazette 6/10 | Fluffed a decent chance to equalise shortly after Palace scored. Set up Ozil to make it 1-1. Worked hard but wasn’t his day in front of goal.

Aubameyang 6/10 | Had a pretty poor game overall but made it 3-2 with a lovely goal.

Subs:

Maitland-Niles 7/10 | Impressive after replacing Jenks at the break. His pace helped us out a few times.

Iwobi 7.5/10 | Made a positive impact off the bench and played a vital role in creating Ozils’ goal, but missed a glorious chance to make it 3-3 in the 89th minute.

Torreira N/A |

At 1-1, the game was there for the taking and Mustafi’s horror-show cost us the three points. If he doesn’t gift Zaha his goal to make it 1-2, we win the game. So Arsenal have blown a golden chance to take control of third and put some distance between us and Chelsea/Man Utd. We now face three away games in our final four matches so we’re going to have to improve our form on the road if we’re to finish in the top four. Wolves away up next on Wednesday….

Here are the goals: