Arsenal reverted to their terrible form in 2017 after falling to a hugely disappointing 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Monday night. Wenger’s side looked to have finally turned things around with a 3-0 victory over West Ham but the respite was clearly short-lived for fans.
The Gunners were – just like they have been for weeks – limp in both attack and defense and hardly threatened the home side. Andros Townsend opened the scoring after some poor defending from Arsenal before Yohan Cabaye doubled the lead with a brilliant finish.
Townsend then went down under little contact in the Arsenal penalty area but Emiliano’s recklessness meant Palace were handed a penalty and Milivojevic made no mistake from the spot. Arsenal fans can have no complaints as Palace more than deserved the victory.
That didn’t stop several people from complaining, however, crying foul on Townsend’s penalty call.
That, from Townsend, is what you call a dive if he’s foreign but “winning the penalty” when he’s English.
— And Could He Play (@andcouldheplay7) April 10, 2017
Cracking dive by Andros Townsend, any kid wanting to be a pro footballer should watch that over and over again
— mo (@jameslahart) April 10, 2017
Don’t get me wrong…..we deserve to lose, but that diving still annoys me. Deserves a ban of some sort #townsend #cheat #dive #MNF
— Ciaran Bannon (@CBannonOfficial) April 10, 2017
We’ve been dreadful but @fa should still look at blatant dive by @andros_townsend.
— Bay Area Gooners (@BayAreaGooners) April 10, 2017
No surprise Michael Oliver buying the dive of Townsend after giving an offside goal last week #hcafc refs are useless in Prem
— Nick Williams (@hullcitynw) April 10, 2017
Have to feel sorry for refs when players like Townsend execute a dive so perfectly. Stonewall on first look, clear dive on the replay.
— Iain Meredith (@IainMeredith) April 10, 2017
@henrywinter Of course you won’t call out Townsend’s dive as he’s English
— Tone (@T50red) April 10, 2017
How is no one hammering Townsend for that? Stone-wall dive #MNF
— Joe Henson (@JoseffHenson) April 10, 2017
never a penalty, Townsend chose to go down under minimal contact = . dive. No way ref can tell. But who cares. They are hammering Arsenal
— Mike Wilson (@Redsmail) April 10, 2017
That is not a penalty for me! Townsend took a dive there! But nothing less that #CPFC deserve been brilliant tonight #MNF
— Vince (@VinceFish13) April 10, 2017
10/10 for Townsend dive. 0/10 for Arsenal’s performance tonight.
— Paul Fingleton (@Fingletonp) April 10, 2017
Shkodran Mustafi – who started the season strongly but has regressed along with the rest of the team – was roundly criticised for his performance, along with Granit Xhaka with both being signed in the summer for significant fees.
When Monreal sees Zaha
When Bellerin sees Townsend
When Mustafi sees Benteke pic.twitter.com/lriuzPqQZC— O O (@otoiks) April 10, 2017
Shkodran Mustafi vs. Crystal Palace:
6 tackles attempted
6 tackles lost
2 fouls committedAll over the place. ? pic.twitter.com/OXE98bDCPn
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 10, 2017
£35m for Shkodran Mustafi and £30m for Granit Xhaka is dreadful business for Arsenal, laughable.
— manutd6th (@manutd53) April 10, 2017
We have Alexis, Ozil, Xhaka & Mustafi on the pitch and we played better football with Chamakh, Denilson & Senderos in the side
— Memz Keloğlu (@Arsenal_Memz) April 10, 2017
The transformation of Mustafi never losing to always losing has been quick.
Football, bloody hell!— Babanla (@biolakazeem) April 10, 2017
Dear Arsenal,
We have Abdennour available. He’s better than Mustafi. You know what to do. Just bring 35m.
Yours Lovingly,
Valencia CF.— Latorre Slake Soler (@Cerebrone) April 10, 2017
Granit Xhaka £35 Million. Shkodran Mustafi £35 Million. At least they have Europa League experience. pic.twitter.com/8ZY1r7nunX
— The Football Pools (@footballpools) April 10, 2017
£35m for Mustafi has finally made me accept the fee we paid for Fellaini lol
— ㅤㅤㅤ (@AaronMancz) April 10, 2017
A Mustafi and Otamendi CB pairing would be quite something to witness.
— Macca (@The_Paris_Angel) April 10, 2017
And, of course, Arsene Wenger came in for heavy criticism after Arsenal quite simply submitted to yet another defeat from a well-drilled side.
Whatever it is that worries Arsenal’s board about Life After Wenger, the alternative is far more terrifying. New deal would be huge mistake
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKayTimes) April 10, 2017
21 points behind Chelsea.
14 points behind Spurs.
10-2 loss to Bayern.
Worst season in 21 years.But hey let’s give Wenger a new contract.
— Headbanger (@MetallicRebel) April 11, 2017
No one’s enjoying this. No one wanted it to come to this. Sadly, our gutless club has conspired, with Wenger, to bring us to this point.
— Mark (@mzk90) April 10, 2017
Whatever your thoughts on Wenger, I don’t see how he can turn this around now. Salvage some pride & get out before you ruin your legacy.
— Spencer FC (@SpencerOwen) April 10, 2017
Twitter is going to go into meltdown when Wenger signs his one-year contract extension. Can already feel the rage.
— Liam Canning (@LiamPaulCanning) April 10, 2017
Arsenal’s last 4 PL away results:
❌ 3-1 Chelsea
❌ 3-1 Liverpool
❌ 3-1 WBA
❌ 3-0 PalaceFirst time under Wenger we’ve lost 4 in a row pic.twitter.com/bJYu4ui0uk
— ArsenalFanTV (@ArsenalFanTV) April 10, 2017
This Arsenal team’s the most gutless shower Wenger’s ever fielded. I’d clear most of them out, along with the manager. #afc
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 10, 2017
I’m not even shocked, the players, the manager, the staff, they’re all to blame, they’re all accountable, but Wenger should walk tonight!
— Mr DT © (@MrDtAFC) April 10, 2017