1) Arsenal’s target is now finishing third
They are not out of it yet. They still have hope. But even the most optimistic Arsenal fans will know the likelihood of their side reeling in Leicester City is almost nonexistent after the latest exhibition of casual wastefulness came in this 1-1 draw with lowly Crystal Palace. Arsenal should have torn into Palace after Leicester had earlier dropped two points against West Ham United, but Arsène Wenger’s men were flat even after Alexis Sánchez’s opener. Punished when Petr Cech let Yannick Bolasie’s shot squirm past him in the 81st minute, Arsenal find themselves fourth, behind Manchester City on goal difference and four points clear of Manchester United. They need to be careful now. There is still a chance they could be overhauled and miss out on the Champions League for the first time under Wenger. That is a staggering thought given that they were top in January.
2) Wenger should sign an alternative to Cazorla
Arsenal’s lethargy before Sánchez broke the deadlock just before half‑time demonstrated how much they have missed Santi Cazorla during the Spaniard’s long absence with a knee injury. With Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny struggling to offer drive and invention in central midfield, Palace’s stifling approach worked, even though they fell behind when Danny Welbeck set up Sánchez for a header over Wayne Hennessey. Arsenal lack someone to set the tempo without Cazorla, whose quick passing and clever movement would surely have caused Palace more problems. He has not played since 29 November and the issue has been compounded by Jack Wilshere’s slow return to fitness. While Wenger has identified the tough Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Granit Xhaka as a key target, his interest in Borussia Dortmund’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan also makes sense.
3) Pardew’s 4-4-2 system fails to work for Palace
The challenge for Arsenal is to find the right system. Elneny and Coquelin are both fine players despite their limitations with the ball and here their screening qualities helped cut out Palace’s attempts to play on the break. Equally, however, Arsenal were helped by Alan Pardew’s decision to set his team up in a 4‑4‑2 formation, with Bolasie joining Connor Wickham up front. Although Pardew wanted to target Arsenal’s vulnerabilities in central defence, the move backfired. Palace were outnumbered in midfield, Bolasie was peripheral and the visitors were more assertive after reverting to 4-2-3-1. Pardewcannot afford to make a similar mistake in the FA Cup semi-final against Watford on Sunday.
4) Bolasie proves he is the main man again
They had not really been banging on the door before Bolasie drove the equaliser past Cech but at least it was an improved display from Palace after the interval. That was partly because Bolasie was back in his favourite position, troubling Arsenal’s full-backs with his pace and trickery, and he made it 1-1 when he cut inside from the left and beat Cech from 25 yards. Pardew should resist the temptation to use Bolasie as a striker. It did not work at West Ham on 2 April either and he is far more effective as a winger. His goal means that Palace, nine points clear of Sunderland with four games to play, are almost safe.
5) Gabriel gets cute – but still has weaknesses to iron out
There was no return for Per Mertesacker, even though Gabriel Paulista had been beaten in the air by Andy Carroll in the 3-3 draw with West Ham United the previous weekend. The view is that Gabriel has a big future in the centre of Arsenal’s defence and will acclimatise to the physicality of English football only with more playing time. But perhaps the Brazilian is learning. When Wenger criticised his defence for making it too straightforward for Carroll to attack crosses, pointing out that there are ways for centre-backs to unsettle a striker who is taller than them, Gabriel must have been listening to his manager. Although he was guilty of slack marking at one Palace free-kick in the first half, he did just about enough to make Wickham miss a free header.
