League Cup semi-finals are rare specimens for Crystal Palace, their last having come in 2012.
This, then, was a bruising defeat at the Emirates — a fine effort, but in the end Palace were edged out by the side with greater reserves.
The Eagles were by no means outplayed for long periods in this 3-2 quarter-final defeat to Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta’s second-string players proved more than a match for a Premier League-strength Palace XI, thanks to Gabriel Jesus’s hat-trick.
Oliver Glasner’s side led as early as the fourth minute, when Jean-Philippe Mateta brushed off Jakub Kiwior to ensure goalkeeper Dean Henderson’s long punt up-field reached him. The Frenchman slotted home, the 6,000 fans in the away end dreaming.
So much of the first 45 was played at plodding pace — Arsenal in possession but only of the ball, not of any threat going forward.
Palace, with their lead, were walked and talked through their every move of the game by Glasner, who pointed each pass where he wanted it to go before it had. And the Eagles pressed well in a five-man pack of Mateta, Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr, Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma when Arsenal were beginning to exert just a little too much control.
It took so long for that control to tell. That was partly thanks to a decent one-handed save over the bar by Henderson from Raheem Sterling’s sweetly-struck direct free-kick.
Glasner had made just one change to his line-up from that which won so impressively away to rivals Brighton on Sunday, with the suspended Daniel Munoz making way for 18-year-old Caleb Kporha.
The teenager did well — in parts — but picked up a yellow card early doors. That, plus his manager’s frustration at his defensive positioning on occasion, explained why he was replaced by Nathaniel Clyne at the break. A bit of defensive solidity to help get a famous win over the line.
Well, not quite. Clyne was nowhere to be seen as Kieran Tierney tore down the left, unchallenged, and swept a delightful cross into the unmarked Sterling. How fortunate for Clyne, Glasner and Palace that Sterling’s rustiness in front of goal was laid bare when the ex-England star scuffed his shot into Henderson’s path and then somehow fluffed the rebound against the crossbar from no more than four yards out.
Palace had defended pretty well and pressed exceptionally, but Mikel Arteta had also turned to the bench at the break, and the quality of substitute Martin Odegaard did the damage as he fed Jesus deftly, Trevoh Chalobah dived in but got only a piece of the north London air, and the Brazilian chipped over Henderson.
Then a nice moment as Eddie Nketiah and Daichi Kamada came on for the visitors, with “EDDIE, EDDIE” chanted by the Arsenal fans, remembering his many years at his boyhood club before his summer move to the Eagles.
When Jesus — quite possibly offside, but with no VAR in operation — scored his second on 73 minutes, it felt not only cruel after such a brave Palace performance. After the third, it felt quite possibly terminal for Glasner’s side.
Nketiah scored a sublime headed goal on 85 minutes and pointed to his watch. Time for Palace, he said. Not that their leveller came. A chance missed, but a performance rightly applauded by the away end. Close.
