Hits and misses: Arsenal's night to forget leaves CL race wide open

Arteta's frank assessment as Arsenal suffer blow

Arsenal lost a Premier League London derby by a three-goal margin for only the fifth time and the first time since a 3-0 defeat by Crystal Palace in April 2017 at Selhurst Park.

It was five years ago to the very week when Palace recorded their last home win over the Gunners. Indeed, it is only their fourth victory over their London neighbours in 26 meetings - but this result was on the cards from the first whistle.

Mikel Arteta did not try to sugarcoat things in his assessment of his team's display in south London, apologising to the travelling supporters for this limp performance which gives their Champions League rivals Tottenham, Manchester United and West Ham plenty of hope heading into the remaining games.

Wayne Rooney said on Monday Night Football: "The fans can see what happened so there was no point in Mikel coming out and trying to dress things up because it wasn't good enough. He has to accept the result and move on but I'm sure he'll be showing clips back to his players of how to get better.

"They are some young players in the squad who have to learn ahead of some big games coming up."

Arsenal never got going. There was a lack of intensity and movement in the final third in the opening exchanges and by half-time against a well-organised Palace, the damage had been done.

There were chances in the second period for the Gunners, with Eddie Nketiah striking the crossbar and both Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe missing presentable opportunities but this defeat dents their top-four hopes.

Results over the weekend had seen Arsenal leapfrogged by rivals Tottenham in the race for Champions League qualification and they were unable to respond on a night to forget for