Arsenal vs Crystal Palace result: Player ratings as Gunners misfire in stalemate

Arsenal 0-0 Palace: Little attacking quality on show as the sides play out a stalemate

David Luiz and Christian Benteke (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal laboured to a 0-0 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Thursday night in the Premier League.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the first real sight of goal with a shot in off the left channel, saved by Vicente Guaita, but the Gunners’ best spells of possession often ended in an overhit cross or a clearance from the Palace defenders.

The away team came into the game far more as the half went on and James Tomkins headed against the crossbar six minutes before the break, before Christian Benteke had a header of his own palmed away by Bernd Leno moments later.

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It was the Gunners who started the second half in more determined fashion, but for all their territorial advantage they created next to nothing and Palace were arguably more of a threat on the break.

Here are the player ratings from the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal

Bernd Leno - 7. Good first-half save from Benteke. Had a nice watching brief for most of the second 45. Distribution was fast, which helped his team get forward several times.

Hector Bellerin - 6. Wasted one of the best chances of the game when he took the ball off a team-mate in the box. Good outlet at times but no end product.

Rob Holding - 7. Standard showing: won his individual battles, sensible on the ball, good positional work.

David Luiz - 6. Didn’t have too much defending to do one-on-one and didn’t really keep up with the counter-attacks in the second half.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles - 5. Poor on the ball first half. Subbed after the hour mark after making little impact.

Granit Xhaka - 7. Made a big tackle inside his own box on Zaha and made a fine recovery clearance in the six-yard box.

Dani Ceballos - 4. Utterly anonymous for much of the match. Very little progressive passing from him.

Bukayo Saka - 7. Occasionally looked capable of opening up the Palace defence with quick feet and a willingness to shoot. Gave the team an outlet after moving left-back.

Emile Smith Rowe - 6. Took up good positions to receive the ball but couldn’t unlock the defence.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6. Started brightly but faded out of the game.

Alexandre Lacazette - 5. Found space only a few times in the box and was mostly restricted to very little final-third involvement. No shots or key passes in his 80 minutes.

Crystal Palace

Vicente Guaita - 6. Really wasn’t tested all that much, despite Arsenal’s dominance of possession.

Joel Ward - 5. Beaten for pace, slow with his clearances and didn’t cover behind his centre-backs on the cross.

James Tomkins - 7. Unlucky not to score in the first half. Dealt well with Lacazette throughout.

Cheikhou Kouyate - 8. The leader at the back. Made several big interventions, won the ball in the air and brought it out in accomplished fashion when the chance arose.

Tyrick Mitchell - 6. Got away with one slack moment early on and improved thereafter.

Andros Townsend - 5. A hard-running but peripheral figure.

Luka Milivojevic - 6. Simple on-the-ball work, plenty of off-the-ball running.

James McArthur - 7. A formidable ball-winning display in the centre of the park.

Eberechi Eze - 7. Led the Palace counter-attack, covered the full-back well and showed fine dribbling ability in dangerous areas at times.

Christian Benteke - 5. Had one good header at goal but his link play and movement was poor.

Wilf Zaha - 6. Sparked into life from time to time but didnt see many clear chances to shoot fall his way.