Joachim Andersen urges Palace to be more ruthless after defeat to Arsenal

Joachim Andersen wants Crystal Palace to adopt a more ruthless mindset after his side lost Friday night’s Premier League curtain-raiser 2-0 to Arsenal.

The Eagles started on the back foot at Selhurst Park, regrouping toward the end of the first half but unable to convert what grew to a 56 per cent possession advantage into many meaningful chances.

The spark came too little too late for Andersen, who challenged his side to step up when they travel to Liverpool on August 15.

“It’s a little bit the same story as last season,” the centre-back told Palace TV. “We played well but we didn’t win.

“We need to be better in taking our chances. When we had good periods we missed a little bit of that killer instinct, in the last action, in our own box, in their box.”

Arsenal went ahead in the 20th minute through a well-worked corner that found its way to Gabriel Martinelli, who rose highest to score the first goal of the 2022/23 Premier League season.

The three points were sealed for Arsenal when Bukayo Saka’s 85th-minute cross deflected off Marc Guehi’s head and in.

Andersen was frustrated by his own back line’s inability to prevent the opener from a Gunners side who finished level with Palace on both 10 shots and two on target.

“It [should not] be possible for us to concede the first goal,” he said. “It’s something we spoke a lot about in pre-season and we need to improve on that because it’s not good enough at this level.

“I think we were sleeping a little bit. It’s about marking your man. We need to be tougher, we need to be more aggressive in these situations. But I think we played a good game actually. The second half we did really well and had good moments, so I think it was a good start.”

Palace boss Patrick Vieira confirmed