Arsenal prevented Liverpool from being crowned Premier League champions without kicking a ball despite conceding a late goal in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
Mikel Arteta\u2019s players knew that a defeat at the Emirates would see Liverpool take the title, but the home side were ahead inside three minutes through Jakub Kiwior.<\/p>\n
Eberechi Eze\u2019s superb volley from a corner hauled Palace level before Leandro Trossard scored his third goal in two matches to restore Arsenal\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n
Arsenal looked on course to take all three points but a sloppy pass by William Saliba allowed Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta to strike with seven minutes left.<\/p>\n
The Gunners are 12 points adrift of Liverpool and, with only the same number of points available across their remaining four matches, Arne Slot\u2019s squad will seal the title with a draw against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Arteta\u2019s side will now turn their attention to next week\u2019s opening leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain with Palace to face Aston Villa at Wembley on Saturday as they bid for a place in the FA Cup final.<\/p>\n
Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a sublime late equaliser (REUTERS)Arsenal\u2019s title challenge has long since faded, and for a third consecutive season they look set to finish as runners-up. But Arteta and his players will have been desperate to avoid handing the title to Liverpool by losing against Palace.<\/p>\n
With their match against PSG just six days away, Bukayo Saka dropped to the bench, but Arsenal were ahead after just 145 seconds.<\/p>\n
Kiwior broke free of the Palace defence to arrive unmarked to Martin Odegaard\u2019s free-kick to head home just the third goal of his Arsenal career.<\/p>\n
To their credit, Palace responded well, and former Arsenal man Eddie Nketiah headed wide from a corner before scuffing a shot when he might have done better. But Palace were soon on level terms when Eze produced a moment of magic.<\/p>\n
Standing unmarked on the edge of Arsenal\u2019s penalty area, Eze fired Adam Wharton\u2019s pinpoint corner on the volley, into the ground, and into the net, via the inside of David Raya\u2019s post.<\/p>\n
Jakub Kiwior\u2019s bullet header gave Arsenal an early lead (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
And Leandro Trossard restored their advantage after Eberechi Eze\u2019s equaliser (PA Wire)Palace had their tails up, and Nketiah nearly put the visitors ahead after he wriggled free of Kiwior only to see his shot hit the Pole\u2019s outstretched leg.<\/p>\n
Thomas Partey\u2019s suspension could see Mikel Merino, who was absent from Arsenal\u2019s squad here, revert to midfield for the game against PSG and allow Trossard to lead the attack.<\/p>\n
And after his double against Ipswich on Sunday, Trossard was back among the scorers three minutes before half-time when he picked up Jurrien Timber\u2019s pass and unleashed a shot which took a slight deflection off Maxence Lacroix\u2019s studs past Dean Henderson. The former Brighton man goaded the visiting Palace fans by cupping his ear in their direction.<\/p>\n
After the break, Raya was called into action when he tipped over Justin Devenny\u2019s effort and then denied Marc Guehi\u2019s header from the resulting corner.<\/p>\n
At the other end, Gabriel Martinelli had a goal chalked off after Timber failed to keep the ball in as he cut it back for his team-mate.<\/p>\n
Arsenal were left disappointed by a draw (Action Images via Reuters)Substitute Saka\u2019s side-footed volley from Martinelli\u2019s cross was palmed over by Henderson with 10 minutes left, but there would be another twist when Palace equalised moments later.<\/p>\n
A casual Saliba saw his attempted pass to Odegaard intercepted by Mateta, and the striker, having only just been brought on, spotted Raya out of position before he produced a sublime finish to chip the ball over the Spaniard\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
Eight minutes of injury time followed but a nervy Arsenal saw out the draw with Liverpool forced to put the champagne back on ice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal prevented Liverpool from being crowned Premier League champions without kicking a ball despite conceding a late goal in a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace. Mikel Arteta\u2019s players knew that a defeat at the Emirates would see Liverpool take the title, but the home side were ahead inside three minutes through Jakub Kiwior. Eberechi Eze\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n