Palace: hello and Cabaye Arsenal
MONDAY MAYHEM: HOSTS BLAST THREE PAST GUNNERS
Frown on Wenger’s face deepens while Allardyce relishes team’s run of form.
Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the Premier League top-four suffered a huge blow as they suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Crystal Palace last night.
Palace, winners of four of their previous five league games, started in confident fashion and opened the scoring when former Tottenham Hotspur winger Andros Townsend swept the ball home at the end of a smart passing move after 17 minutes.
Palace striker Christian Benteke then had a goal ruled out for offside before Yohan Cabaye’s superb curled effort and Luka Milivojevic’s penalty in five second-half minutes completed a miserable night for Arsene Wenger’s struggling side.
Arsenal, who have finished in the top four in 20 consecutive seasons, have 54 points from 30 games – seven points and two positions behind fourth-placed Manchester City, who have played a game more.
Crystal Palace stay 16th but now have 34 points from 31 matches, six more than Swansea City, who occupy the final relegation place in 18th and have played a game more.
Wenger has been under siege in recent weeks as angry Arsenal fans demanded his resignation and the calls for the Gunners boss to quit will grow even louder after one of the most chastening defeats of his 21-year reign.
Needing a victory to keep pace with their rivals in the race for Champions League qualification, spineless Arsenal showed none of the required poise and passion as they crumbled on a woebegone Monday night in south London.
Arsenal, beaten at Palace for the first time since 1979, were shambolic and their underachieving stars were barracked with chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt” in the closing stages of their heaviest league defeat this season.
Wenger’s retort to critics who claim he’s past his best is to point at his record of leading Arsenal into the Champions League for the last 19 seasons. It is increasingly difficult to see how Wenger, who has yet to sign a new contract, can prolong his reign as his team falls apart around him.