Arsenal 0-3 Crystal Palace Match Report: hello darkness, my old friend

There’s nothing left to say, yet we chug on. After a 3-0 drubbing of West Ham, most of us thought that (in typical Arsenal fashion) this team would finish the season on a high note after their predictable dip in form.

To be clear, even if Crystal Palace had won four of their past five leading up to this matchup, this was a very winnable game. Palace hadn’t beaten Arsenal in 22-and-some years.

It all started in the 17th minute, when the Gunners conceded from a goal kick again. The build-up lead to Wilfried Zaha setting up Andros Townsend for the 1-0 lead. Yohan Cabaye doubled the lead in the 63rd, and third-choice keeper Emiliano Martinez conceded a penalty five minutes later after a hot-blooded attempt to nab the ball coming off his line. Luka Milivojevic slotted home to make it 3-0.

Throughout the first half, the defense looked extremely shaky. Shkodran Mustafi still doesn’t look competent without Laurent Koscielny. Hector Bellerín and Nacho Monreal were sent to the shadow realm by Palace’s wingers. Even with the bulk of possession, the team never looked to be in the game.

Wenger tried to shake things up by bringing Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey off the bench, but nothing changed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain couldn’t make an impact either.

This was terrible, there are no other words for it.