Gunners drop points again

Another league season is fizzling away from us and the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace almost typified what has been wrong with our season.

Admittedly it wasn't the greatest of games but if you are going to win a league title this is the type of match you have to be getting maximum points in, rather than dropping two points by conceding a late goal.

On this particular occasion, had we won the game I don't think it would have affected the title race as we are already too far behind but we should, at the very least, have put up a better fight to try and stop Tottenham finishing above us. Leaders Leicester dropped points over the weekend so, although the title race is nearly over for us, we should've been ready to try and take advantage...but we didn't!

What looked like it could be a promising season has become a race for second and third over the last few months and then, more recently, could now even become the race for fourth or missing out completely on Champions League football. In all honesty, whether we finish second, third, fourth or lower, the outcome is the same - no league title - and this has got to change.

With over 70% of the possession and more than 20 shots on target, we still only managed a draw. It certainly didn't feel like we had had over 20 shots, with some only being half chances, but either way we should have done better. How can we have that much of the ball, create that many chances, and still not win the game? Arsene Wenger's lack of spending is among the reasons because, had we bought a world class striker and maybe another centre-back, things might have been different. Some want Wenger to stay, while others think his time is up and that a change is needed. The players also need to take some of the responsibility for underachieving as we have been too inconsistent. Excluding injuries, how can the same squad of players beat Manchester United 3-0, win twice against leaders Leicester but then drop points against the likes of West Brom, West Ham and Crystal Palace. That isn't meant in any way as disrespectful to those sides as there are no easy games in the Premier League but, for any sides serious about a title challenge, we need to be killing off games much better than we have been doing of late.

The first half against Palace was rather tedious viewing, with neither side doing too much to get the fans out of their seats. Palace defender Scott Dann headed off target, while Yannick Bolasie's curling shot was comfortably saved by Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal.

At the other end, Alexis Sanchez saw his free-kick deflect wide before Mesut Ozil's close-range effort was well kept out by Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey soon after.

The deadlock was finally broken on the stroke of half-time when Danny Welbeck won back possession and chipped a delightful pass into the path of Sanchez for the Chilean to head over Hennessey and into the net.

Arsenal started the second half brightly with Alex Iwobi heading wide within five minutes of the restart before Ozil curled a free-kick narrowly off target shortly before the hour mark.

Hennessey kept out Welbeck's volley from point-blank range before Sanchez sent a header just wide as the Gunners continued to try and find a second goal.

A quickly-taken free-kick very nearly saw Arsenal double their advantage but Ozil's excellent delivery was headed agonisingly wide by Sanchez. Although Arsenal were dominating at this point, 1-0 is always a very dangerous scoreline but the hosts just couldn't kill the game off.

Palace came very close to equalising but Cech managed to get something on the ball to tip Bakary Sako’s header over the bar for a corner.

Arsenal also wasted another chance as Sanchez dragged a shot wide after having got himself in a good position with a decent touch. That miss proved costly as Palace levelled the scores eight minutes from time. Bolasie got the better of Coquelin before beating Cech at his near post with a low shot from outside the box.

The Gunners still had time to turn the game back in their favour when Gabriel got on the end of Ozil's free-kick, but the defender's header was comfortably saved by Hennessey.

Arsenal could've ended the game empty handed had Palace not wasted a chance in injury time. Wilfried Zaha won the ball back and raced into the box but, instead of crossing the ball for Emmanuel Adebayor, he delayed and Gabriel got back to deny him with a great challenge.

Sanchez sent a shot over the bar as the full-time whistle went and it definitely felt more like two points dropped than a point gained against the Eagles.

OPPOSITION VIEW
Palace fan James Chick believes a draw was a fair result and he was critical of both goalkeepers and the Arsenal defence following the game.

"It was a fair result," said Chick. "I think both sides would be disappointed to have lost that game.

"Poor goalkeeping for both goals and further evidence for me that (Julian) Speroni should be the first-choice goalkeeper. Zaha is a nugget for not looking up at the end there but after a 50 yard run beating two players, I can't be too harsh; he should have started.

From an Arsenal perspective, Gabriel was poor and a centre-back should join a striker and a central midfielder as the essential purchases in the summer.

"If I was Ozil I would be considering my options. He must be absolutely sick of his life playing with the likes of (Theo) Walcott, Gabriel, (Mohamed) Elneny and (Francis) Coquelin. He is too good for this current Arsenal side."

MY FINAL THOUGHTS
I expected far more from this game despite the fact that our title hopes were virtually already over before the game anyway. I thought after having dropped points at West Ham, we would've been out to respond in style yet it didn't happen.

Not only is the title virtually over, but we are in real danger of finishing below our bitter rivals Tottenham. Should Tottenham fail to beat Stoke in their next game, then we would have a chance of finishing second if we can win our game in hand against West Brom. I actually think Tottenham will beat Stoke but if other sides do drop points we need to be ready to take advantage instead of just letting our season fade away. Roll on West Brom!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS