Key events
47 min Devenny is booked for a foul on Lewis-Skelly.
46 min Peep peep! The second half is under way.
Half time: Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace
For an apparently meaningless game, that was loads of fun. Jakub Kiwior put Arsenal ahead with a mighty header, Ebere Eze equalised deservedly with a superb volley and Leandro Trossard squeezed Arsenal back in front just before half-time.
Liverpool will probably have to wait another three days before they are crowned champions. But it’s not a done deal, not after that Palace performance in the first half.
45+2 min Rice is booked for a foul on Nketiah.
45+2 min Both keepers get in a tangle in the space of about 10 seconds. Martinelli had a chance that he poked straight at Henderson, though he may have been offside.
Raya has been unusually jittery in Arsenal’s goal.
45+1 min Two minutes of added fun.
45 min Another good move from Palace ends with Guehi – on the edge of the box in open play – having a shot blocked by Kiwior.
Timber moved forward and cracked a fast pass into Trossard on the edge of the area. He turned smartly to make just enough room for a shot that took a nick off Lacroix and beat Henderson in the corner. A bit of luck with the finish but he was really sharp in the way he made the space.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace (Trossard 42)
Leandro Trossard restores Arsenal’s lead with another smart finish.
41 min Sterling’s fine.
40 min Eze kicks the ball out of play with Sterling on the ground after a challenge from Guehi.
38 min The Emirates has gone pretty quiet. I think everyone is a bit surprised by the quality and urgency of Palace’s performance given the proximity to their FA Cup semi-final.
35 min A quiet few minutes since Eze’s equaliser.
32 min The xG as per Sky Sports: Arsenal 0.13-1.05 Palace.
32 min “I’m assuming that Mikel Merino’s nickname is ‘Dan’,” says Mac Millings. “But, more importantly, please tell me that Nwaneri’s is ‘Claudio’.”
Surely Merino’s is San?
31 min The result corner is punched away unconvincingly by Raya to Eze, whose floated shot from 20 yards drifts over the bar.
30 min: Vital block by Kiwior! It’s all Palace now. Eze runs onto a crossfield pass and cushions it infield to Nketiah, six yards out but with his goal. He hits a shot on the turn that Kiwior blocks crucially with his trailing leg; I don’t think Raya would have saved it.
Wharton drove the corner towards the unmarked Eze on the edge of the area. He ran round the ball, twisted his body to ensure he could get over it and slammed a volley into the ground. It kicked up through the crowd, beat the diving Raya and went into the net via the inside of the post. Outstanding goal.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Crystal Palace (Eze 27)
Ebere Eze in utterly brilliant goal shocker.
26 min Munoz finds the underlapping Kamada, who wins a corner off Rice. Sounds weird to say, given the score, but I’d give Palace more chance of victory now than I did at the start of the game; they’ve been excellent.
25 min Saliba reads Devenny’s through pass and nips in front of Nketiah on the edge of the Arsenal area.
23 min Sterling zips infield, plays a one-two with Trossard and finds Rice on the edge of the D. He takes a touch – it was an awkward ball to control on the stretch – and batters a terrific shot that bounces just wide of the left-hand post.
22 min “If this game ends in a draw tonight, Liverpool must be crowned champions, right?” says Krishnamoorthy V. “The mathematical possibility of bridging the 12-point gap and overcoming the huge GD is just balderdash.”
On the contrary – if Arsenal were to make up the 12 points (which they won’t), they’d almost certainly have a superior goal difference. We all know Liverpool are champions, and have been since January, but a draw wouldn’t officially confirm it.
20 min Devenny goes on a powerful run and finds Munoz, whose cross on the stretch is cut out at the near post. Palace do look threatening in attack.
20 min “The Arsenal defenders are manfully trying to make the game as interesting as possible,” begins Charles Antaki. “Terrific for the dramatic value, but hopeless as a gauge of what Arsenal fans actually want.”
19 min Mitchell crosses too close to Raya after a nice Palace move. It’s a really open game.
16 min “It’s an exciting football night for me,” writes Giovanni Cafagna. “While Arsenal v CP may decree Liverpool champions, Milan plays Inter away at San Siro, in the second leg of the semi-final of the Italian Cup. They start from 1-1, so there’s everything to play for. Milan lose and it will be the final nail in the coffin of one of the worst seasons I can remember for unexpressed potential.
“Inter losing means missing out on the Treble. I totally agree with your prediction for the CL final: Inter v PSG or Arsenal, and the Nerazzurri losing their second final in 2 years. Not before though seeing Napoli lifting the Scudetto. From three trophies to ZERO the leap is very quick. Fingers crossed.”
13 min: Chance for Palace! Eze pings a pass in behind for Nketiah. Raya comes, then starts to backpedal desperately. Nketiah is forced wide when the ball skips off the turf but drags a low cross that wrongfoots Kiwior, almost falls for Devenny six yards out and is eventually pounced upon by a relieved Raya.
12 min “Does your website show how many people just got their coats?” sniffs Ian Copestake.
11 min You can see how that Kiwior goal has impacted the race for the Golden Boot on our dedicated page.
10 min At the other end Rice rattles a snapshot wide of the near post. Both teams have started brightly in attack.
8 min: Chance for Palace The resulting corner, taken by Wharton, is headed wide from six yards by Nketiah. He was under pressure but that was a decent chance because Raya was off his line and nowhere near the ball.
7 min After a bit of pinball in the Arsenal area, Kamada whistles a half-volley that takes a deflection and flies just wide of the far post. Palace look like they’ve come to play.
6 min Mitchell’s long cross is volleyed back across goal by Munoz and claimed by Raya. A better pass from Munoz would have given Guehi a chance; that said, it was a really difficult ball to control.
Lerma fouled Martinelli needlessly on the left wing and paid a heavy price. Odegaard’s outswinging free-kick was met at the near post by the unmarked Kiwior, who powered a header over Henderson from 12 yards. That’s a brilliant header, and his first goal of the season.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Crystal Palace (Kiwior 3)
Arsenal in set-piece goal shocker.
1 min Palace kick off from right to left as we watch.
A reminder of the teams
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Sterling, Trossard, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Tierney, Zinchenko, Gower, Henry-Francis, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia, Nwaneri, Saka.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1) Henderson; Lerma, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Devenny, Eze; Nketiah.
Substitutes: Turner, Ward, Clyne, Kporha, Hughes, Esse, Sarr, Franca, Mateta.
The head-to-head
Arsenal have won the last six against Palace, scoring 20 goals, including a 5-1 win at Selhurst Park in the return fixture. Palace’s last win at the Emirates was in April 2019, when the two clubs were managed by Roy Hodgson and Unai Emery.
The one thing Palace won’t want tonight, apart from injuries, is another heavy defeat. That would be three in four games going into an FA Cup semi-final, a state of affairs that would be described in some cultures as sub-optimal.
An email from Ian Copestake, one of our resident Liverpool fans
You ain’t seen me. Right?
“Thoughts on the Champions League?” writes Arsenal fan Bill Hargreaves. “(Give me the pain.)”
Before the second legs of the quarter-finals I thought PSG were fairly strong favourites; now I’d say it’s about 60/40. Arteta’s Arsenal are a formidable team when they get on a roll; this is definitely their best chance since 2006. I have a feeling Inter will beat Barcelona and then lose to PSG or Arsenal in the final.
Mikel Arteta says Mikel Merino and Ben White had “some issues” after the Ipswich game and are not fit enough to be in the squad. Bukayo Saka is only fit enough for the bench.
Merino would be a huge loss against PSG. You’d expect Saka to be fine.
The Premier League table at the start of play
“We can surely expect Arsenal to take matters into their own hands and decide the champions today,” writes Krishnamoothy V. “Last time Klopp watched Chelsea giving them the title and today Slot must be keeping the champagne ready.”
Have you met Mikel Arteta?
Crystal Palace v Aston Villa (FA Cup semi-final, Saturday 5.15pm)
Team news: Merino not in the squad, Saka rested
Both managers have picked surprisingly strong teams. Arsenal do rest Bukayo Saka, who had an injury scare at Ipswich, and Mikel Merino isn’t in the squad. No word yet whether he’s been given the night off or whether they is an injury.
Apart from that it’s the strongest available team. Myles Lewis-Skelly, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey and Raheem Sterling return in place of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Merino and Saka.
Ismaila Sarr, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Will Hughes drop to the Palace bench, Daichi Kamada, Eddie Nketiah and Justin Devenny coming in, but that aside it’s the strongest available team. Jefferson Lerma replaces the suspended Chris Richards at the back.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Sterling, Trossard, Martinelli.
Substitutes: Neto, Tierney, Zinchenko, Gower, Henry-Francis, Butler-Oyedeji, Kabia, Nwaneri, Saka.
Crystal Palace (3-4-2-1) Henderson; Lerma, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton, Kamada, Mitchell; Devenny, Eze; Nketiah.
Substitutes: Turner, Ward, Clyne, Kporha, Hughes, Esse, Sarr, Franca, Mateta.
Referee Michael Salisbury.
It’s not so bad for Arsenal, who have almost a week to recover before the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. But when players are on a football field, there’s always the risk of injury.
We cannot think in those terms. I think when the players are fit and they are available and they want to play, they have to play. They are at their best when they are playing and they have consistency in their performances.
Crystal Palace were hoping to move this game forward by 24 hours. The Premier League were not for turning, which makes Oliver Glasner’s team selection for tonight’s game quite tricky. Do you rest players? Try to give them half an hour? An hour? Pick the entire 1989-90 back four as a two fingers to the Premier League?
Villa play [on Tuesday] – fair would be if both teams were playing on the same day, on Tuesday or on Wednesday. At this stage of the season it can influence if you have two or three days to rest. But we have to accept it and I’m pretty sure we will be top fit on Saturday.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Before The Lord’s Mayor’s Show, a piece of unscripted entertainment involving the association football teams of Arsenal and Crystal Palace. Both have season-defining semi-finals on the horizon – Palace on Saturday, Arsenal next Tuesday – and could probably do without this game.
While it isn’t particularly important for the two competitors, there is a very interested third party: if Palace win tonight, Liverpool will be crowned champions for the 20th time in their history. And they’ll get to celebrate with their own for the first time since 1990.
Kick off 8pm.
