Online Reporter
MIKEL Arteta admitted Arsenal have to get their “energy” back for the Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain after a lacklustre 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace left Liverpool on the brink of winning the Premier League.
Arteta’s side were hoping to warm up for their first Champions League semifinal appearance since 2009 with a victory over Palace at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
But Jakub Kiwior’s third-minute header for the Gunners was cancelled out by Eberechi Eze’s volley in the 27th minute.
Leandro Trossard’s strike put Arsenal back in front three minutes before halftime, only for Palace substitute Jean-Philippe Mateta to loft a brilliant lob over out of position keeper David Raya in the 83rd minute.
Second-placed Arsenal are 12 points adrift of Liverpool, and with only four matches left for the north Londoners, Arne Slot’s team will seal the title if they avoid defeat against Tottenham at Anfield on Sunday.
Their title hopes effectively over several weeks ago, Arsenal were already focused on winning the Champions League for the first time.
But the sloppy display against Palace was hardly ideal preparation for the showdown with French champions PSG, who have eliminated Liverpool and Aston Villa en route to the last four.
“We are disappointed with the result and performance. We didn’t find enough consistency in actions to dominate the game,” Arteta said.
“In many aspects we should have done better. Palace were very organised and deserved credit but we dropped our standards.
“We struggled to find consistency. We gave the ball away in simple ways and we were late in everything we did. We have to do much better.”
It was Arsenal’s ninth league draw in a match they were leading this season, the most by a team in a single campaign since Tottenham in 2007-08.
Arsenal’s repeated failure to kill off opponents has resulted in 13 draws from 34 leagues games, helping put Liverpool within touching distance of a record-equalling 20th English title.
Likely to finish as Premier League runners-up for a third successive season, Arteta’s team hope to end their five-year trophy drought in memorable style in the Champions League.
Arteta insisted they were not distracted by the chance to reach the final for the first time since 2006.
“We have spoke about avoiding our focus being elsewhere. We have enough time to prepare for PSG but today we didn’t deliver enough to win the game,” he said.
“It is nice to have long gap, we need it and we need players back to full strength. We have so many players out and not available and therefore you drop certain standards.
“We have the most important game of the season in six days. We need to get our energy back.” —SuperSport.
