Aubameyang on target but red card leads to apology by Arteta
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tasted both glory and disgrace as Arsenal’s recent resurgence under Mikel Arteta faltered in the combustible atmosphere of a raucous London derby.
The Arsenal captain’s cool finish gave his side an early advantage as they threatened to run riot but his afternoon ended early when he was shown a red card by referee Paul Tierney, who had originally given only a yellow version.
Aubameyang’s lunge at Max Meyer, in the 67th minute, was high, reckless and put the Palace man out of the game. It was checked by the video assistant referee, who, after some deliberation, correctly ruled it a sending-off offence.
Arteta, just yards away, could have been forgiven a flashback to October 2013. Aubameyang is the third Arsenal player to score and be sent off in the same Premier League match, and the first since the fate befell Arteta himself at Selhurst Park seven years ago.
Roy Hodgson, the Crystal Palace manager, said: “Aubameyang didn’t try to deliberately injure the player, I’m sure he didn’t. It is the type of challenge that forwards, when they are trying to make a recovery, make. But when I saw it on video, there is no doubt it was a red card.
“The position of Max’s ankle as the challenge comes in is not a pleasant thing to see and I would be surprised if there isn’t some ligament damage there, but he was very upbeat after the game. He is convinced he will be OK.”
Arteta was in apologetic mode, saying: “It looked nasty, to be fair. Knowing Auba, he had no intention to make that tackle, but we are sorry for that.”
Down to 10 men, Arsenal had to dig in to rescue a point as Palace, buoyed by Jordan Ayew’s 54th-minute leveller, gave their visitors a thorough examination of their defensive credentials.
Yet Arsenal’s early control had been so absolute that Palace had hardly got hold of the ball before the visitors struck in the 12th minute, Aubameyang tucking in a low shot for his 16th goal of the season.
Palace, without suspended captain Luka Milivojevic and further depleted by injuries, took a while to find their stride, but when David Luiz slipped, letting in Ayew, the ball was worked quickly to Wilfried Zaha and although that moment of fleeting danger came to nothing, the home side suddenly began to pose a threat.
There was a sense of injustice, when the ball was not returned to them after a stoppage for treatment to Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira, who was withdrawn at half-time, as Nicolas Pepe further fired up the Palace players and crowd.
Now we had a capital derby on our hands and the men from south of the river showed their intent when Cheikhou Kouyate’s ferocious drive was kept out by Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The equaliser arrived in the 54th minute, Ayew’s shot bound for its target but helped on its way by a deflection off the foot of Luiz, which helped the ball loop high beyond Leno’s reach.
Palace have posed problematic opposition for Arsenal in recent times and went into the match unbeaten in their previous three encounters with the side from the Emirates. They were turning up the heat again, when Arsenal suffered from the self-inflicted injury of Aubameyang’s red card.
The departure of Meyer, his injured victim, meant a rapid debut for Cenk Tosun, the Turkish striker signed on loan from Everton 24 hours earlier.
Palace scented victory and were within a fraction when James Tomkins’s 80th-minute header was cleared off the line.
Arsenal also came close to snatching a winner, Pepe’s shot hitting a post before Guaita smothered Lacazette’s follow-up attempt five minutes from the end.
Arteta said: “I was pleased with how we started the game, how we dominated the first half, but after the break we switched off for the goal and I was disappointed with that. After that, we reacted well.”