Oliver Glasner revealed Crystal Palace targeted David Raya’s high positioning off his line as his team grabbed a 2-2 draw with Arsenal – with Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher critical of the Gunners goalkeeper in the draw.
The Eagles grabbed a point at the Emirates thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s stunning late lob over Raya, after Arsenal defender William Saliba had given the ball away cheaply in his own half.
The result was Arsenal’s 13th draw of a season where their title bid will likely come to an end on Sunday, as Liverpool need just a point against Spurs at Anfield, live on Sky Sports’ Super Sunday, to clinch a 20th league crown.
Asked about Mateta’s stunning finish, Glasner said: “We showed the players yesterday when we were preparing the opponent. We showed them that David Raya is high [off his line].
Raya watches Mateta’s strike go over the line
“It was the third time [in the game] we had this situation – the first one Justin Devenny didn’t recognise it, so we forgot it. Adam Wharton had the kick in the first half where he hit Thomas Partey and this would have been quite dangerous. And then we got the third opportunity and JP [Mateta] had this amazing finish.”
Analysing the goal in the Sky Sports studio, Carragher was critical of not just Raya but also Saliba, who made his second mistake in three games leading to a goal after the Frenchman dallied to allow Vinicius Jr to score into an empty net away to Real Madrid.
“We’re going to see this more and more where goalkeepers are not just good on the ball, but if you see, Raya is part of the back four. That’s fine,” Carragher said.
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Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta capitalises on William Saliba’s mistake with an unreal finish vs Arsenal!
“Where I do have a problem with David Raya, as soon as Odegaard takes up the position as another centre-back, I just think you have to get back in your goal.
“And maybe it’s the thing of ‘we’re winning 2-1’, a little bit more lax than it would have been. As soon as Saliba plays it, he doesn’t need to be there.
“And it’s a mess from Saliba, and it’s been a couple of times now. He was brilliant at the Bernabeu but he lost his focus [for Real Madrid’s goal]. And that is absolutely outstanding [from Mateta].”
Glasner also revealed that Palace’s first goal – an Eberechi Eze volley from the edge of the box from Adam Wharton’s corner – was also planned, and they practised that exact same move in training the day before facing Arsenal.
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Eberechi Eze fires brilliant volley to bring Crystal Palace level against Arsenal!
“Yes, honestly, we trained it yesterday but it didn’t work so well like today on the training ground. Sometimes you need this one moment,” said Glasner.
“We talked about it before: we had two teams scoring the number one and two [most goals from set pieces in the Premier League]. I think one or two were equal and we said OK, let’s take this challenge, this is good to be part of it.”
Carra: Can Mateta to to the next level?
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
Carragher also believes Palace goalscorer Mateta is capable of going onto the next level.
The 27-year-old has scored 14 goals in this Premier League season – and has 30 top-flight goals since the start of the last campaign.
“I think there will be other clubs looking at him,” said Carragher.
“I don’t like saying that because Crystal Palace supporters understandably get upset. But in the last two seasons, he’s not just been a handful, but he’s also been a real goal-getter.
“Can he go to that next level, teams that are challenging for the Champions League? Crystal Palace are a level below that, a typical mid-table team. I think he’s brilliant.”
‘Arteta will be furious with Arsenal’
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Sky Sports Football pundits Jamie Carragher and Theo Walcott analyse the upcoming run-in for Arsenal following the draw to Crystal Palace.
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher:
“I think Arteta will be furious.
“They will be fine for qualifying for the Champions League but you want to put it to bed as soon as you can. If they’d have won tonight you could write the Bournemouth game off in between PSG and rest the whole team. I don’t think he’s in a position to do that now as Liverpool come after that.
“If they lose the next two games, then there are others just behind you and they still have to play Newcastle. You just don’t want to be looking over your shoulder.”
