Mikel Arteta: Top-four pressure did not affect Arsenal players in Crystal Palace loss

Mikel Arteta defended his Arsenal players and refuted claims the pressure of the top-four race had got to them after Monday's 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace - but conceded it was an "unacceptable" result.

The Gunners were blown away by their old captain Patrick Vieira, who saw his side go two up inside 24 minutes through Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew before Wilfried Zaha's late penalty added some deserved gloss.

A 5-1 win for Tottenham over Newcastle on Sunday saw them leapfrog rivals Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification but Arteta hit back at suggestions his young side are feeling the heat following a chastening night.

"Overall, it is unacceptable, we hold our hands up, me the first one and apologise, we regroup, tomorrow is a new day and a new opportunity to start to prepare against Brighton," the Gunners boss said.

"The pressure has been there for the last seven or eight weeks and we are talking all the time about the race and the top four and this is while they have been performing extremely well, getting results and playing well.

"Today we didn’t perform and it is as simple as that. We were second best in every department, especially in the first half."

Arsenal had won six of their previous seven fixtures before visiting Palace but looked unsettled from the outset and it was no surprise when Mateta nodded in a 16th-minute opener following Joachim Andersen’s header across goal.

It was 2-0 eight minutes later when Ayew collected Andersen’s pass and bent his shot around Aaron Ramsdale and into the bottom corner. Selhurst Park was rocking now but Arteta would have again been left aghast at the defending of Gabriel Magalhaes and Nuno Tavares.

The second half was better for the visitors but Emile Smith Rowe