If Arsenal needed Patrick Vieira’s managerial credentials ramming home, the message was delivered here. It should have been embossed with three points but Crystal Palace, who had been the better side for more than two thirds of the game, were denied at the very last and their players’ immediate reactions were of the kind more commonly associated with a chastening defeat. For those picking over the touchline battle, though, this was only a win for Vieira: while Mikel Arteta’s players struggled for cohesion and fluidity, Palace looked supremely composed once they had cleared their heads from an early setback and performed with a conviction that augurs well.
They only needed to maintain it for another 10 seconds when Arsenal won a corner in the fifth minute of added time. But their defence could not clear and Ben White was allowed to control before volleying through a crowded box 12 yards out, his effort taking a deflection and squirming off Vicente Guaita’s foot. Alexandre Lacazette was given a tap-in and Vieira, who had celebrated lustily as his side overhauled a potentially disastrous start to lead, would have to stomach a third straight draw.
