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Poor performance but perspective needed: Crystal Palace 2-2 Arsenal

It is the day after and we’ve had time to reflect on what was an interesting game to say the least. It wasn’t our greatest performance by any stretch of the imagination, probably one of our worst of the season if I’m completely honest but to get away with it and to come away with a point is far greater than anything we’d have got away with in recent seasons.

We were slow off the blocks once again. I was listening to the commentators during the game and we haven’t had a single half time lead yet in the league this season. Having been so consistent however, it just means that our second half performances have been fantastic. It is still an area for improvement though. We were poor, but we really should have gone ahead. Lacazette in the form he is in needs to slot his chance away, he had more time than he realised, while on the contrary Bellerin thought he had all the time in the world and took a touch too many. Both really should have done better.

I’ve been seeing a lot of hate for Mustafi. Look the challenge didn’t look great, but it was as much about slide tackling the player as it was an outstretched leg to simply clear the ball in a desperate situation. We really shouldn’t be in a situation where the opponent has the time and space in the box to take the ball down and shoot. Leno makes a horrible punch, Bellerin is all over the place and then Mustafi puts the icing on the cake. I’m not saying Mustafi isn’t to blame at all, but to say he pole axed the Palace player for no good reason and is solely to blame is a massive simplification of a greater defensive issue. It is often too easy to make one person the scapegoat.

We go behind at a terrible time before half time, but as has been throughout the whole season so far, Emery gave the players a good kick up the backside and they came out in the second half with that killer mentality that was so often absent under Wenger. Xhaka with another scintillating free kick, better than the Newcastle one given the angle, and Aubameyang gave us the lead, albeit with a Hand of God from Lacazette.

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I do feel we needed a killer goal though, especially given the way we were playing. While I didn’t want to believe we would get sucker punched, and that our newfound mentality would see us through, sadly we succumbed to an equaliser.

This brings us to our second scapegoat, Xhaka. The problem started at the other end, we were on the break and Lacazette makes a terrible attempted pass to Torriera and Palace catch us on the break. Mustafi, for reasons only known to him, decided it was OK to pole axe the attacker in the box for the first penalty, but not to professionally foul his man while Palace was on the break. I just don’t understand it. Xhaka then, one on one against a notorious diver in Zaha then sticks out a lazy leg and there was only going to be one outcome. Dive or not, it is the wrong decision by Xhaka to stick out a leg and give him that opportunity, but again, making Xhaka a scapegoat is wrong, especially after he got us back in the game, the fact that he was fatigued, out of position, and had to deal with some of the mess left by Mustafi and Lacazette. Once again I can see many fans overly simplifying a situation and making someone a scapegoat.

The team as a collective needs to work harder in defence if they are to get a result against Liverpool, but it is also important to have some perspective. This was our third game in a week and fatigue surely played a part. Moreover, we’d just come off an 11 game winning streak, and the streak is still an undefeated one. Yes this was a blip, but which team doesn’t have a blip? I would gladly take 1 poor game for 11 great ones for the rest of the season. What Emery has done in such a short space of time is nothing short of incredible and I have faith he can get us back on form again.

I hope Emery plays some of the young guys in midweek in the Carabao Cup so that our first team is fresh for Liverpool. If we can work on the defensive issues I am confident we can get a result.

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