- Sanchez scores before halftime
- Bolasie nabs one late
- Arsenal attempts 20 shots
- Palace puts three on goal
Yannick Bolasie’s late goal helped Crystal Palace steal a point from Emirates Stadium despite near complete dominance from Arsenal in a 1-1 draw on Sunday.
Alexis Sanchez scored the Gunners’ only goal to give Arsenal a lead just before halftime, but the club’s second goal never arrived at the Emirates.
The draw puts Arsenal in fourth place, four ahead of fifth place Manchester United and level with Manchester City. The Gunners’ goal differential is six goals inferior to City.
Palace sits 16th with 39 points.
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Quite simply, there wasn’t much to like about the opening half hour. Manager Alan Pardew set Palace up to clutter their own third, and Arsenal had little success in finding a way through the Eagles.
At one point near the end of the first 20 minutes, Arsenal was carrying a remarkable 86 percent of possession. Yet aside from a few set piece chances, including a deflected Alexis Sanchez shot, there wasn’t much to entertain until quite close to halftime. That’s when Wayne Hennessey made a pair of in-tight saves.
The goal came in the first minute of stoppage, and it was Sanchez. The forward headed a wonderfully-scooped pass from Danny Welbeck past Hennessey to make it 1-0.
[ MORE: Latest Premier League standings ]1 - Arsenal have won just one London derby in league competition this season; their fewest since the 1963/64 campaign (1). Taxi.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 17, 2016
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The second half was more Arsenal, opening up a bit after Mile Jedinak came off for Bakary Sako. Ozil sailed another free kick just wide in the 59th minute.
It all seemed on cruise control for Arsenal, even as Palace sub Emmanuel Adebayor dribbled down the left flank. When the ball came to Yannick Bolasie, it was still ho-hum.
Then Bolasie hit the low ball, near post, past Petr Cech. That’s not what you expect from the legendary keeper, but things were shockingly level.