Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has opened the scoring at Crystal Palace, but was later sent off as the hosts fought back to draw 1-1 in the English Premier League.
New Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was on course for a third straight win when his skipper made the breakthrough in the first half, but a deflected effort by Jordan Ayew cancelled it out at the start of the second period at Selhurst Park on Saturday.
When Aubameyang received a red card with 23 minutes left, the experienced Roy Hodgson would have fancied his chances of gaining three points against the youngest manager in the league and yet had to settle for a share of the spoils.
Arsenal's difficulties this season were highlighted by the fact this was the first time Palace were facing the Gunners after Christmas in a top-flight match with the Eagles higher up in the table.
Mesut Ozil's licence to roam had already caused the hosts problems and he moved inside to combine with Alexandre Lacazette, who played in his fellow forward to curl into the bottom corner for his 16th goal of the season.
Arteta introduced Matteo Guendouzi at halftime, but Palace continued to win free kicks in dangerous positions after the break.
Eventually they made one count in the 54th minute when Jairo Riedewald found Max Meyer in space down the right. His cross was poor, but Cheikhou Kouyate was first to it and set up Ayew, who saw his strike take a big deflection off Arsenal defender David Luiz and loop over keeper Bernd Leno.
The visitors' problems heightened 10 minutes later when Aubameyang caught Meyer high on the ankle with a poor challenge by the touchline.
Referee Paul Tierney showed a yellow card, but VAR had a look and after a two-and-a-half minute delay, the caution was upgraded to a sending off.
Aubameyang was distraught as he left the pitch and Meyer had to follow him down the tunnel after failing to recover from the tackle.
Tags
Epl
