Crystal Palace put a dent in Arsenal's Champions League qualification hopes after strikers Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha made the most of defensive errors in a 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The visitors took a shock early lead inside 20 minutes when captain Luka Milivojevic's freekick found an unmarked Benteke, who headed it past Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno for his first league goal since April last year.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery responded with the introduction of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Alex Iwobi at the start of the second half but it was Mesut Ozil who scored the equaliser after a sweeping move.
The visitors take all three points.#ARSCRY
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 21, 2019
The German playmaker combined with Iwobi and striker Alexandre Lacazette before scooping the ball past Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
But Arsenal paid for a lapse in concentration at the back as Zaha took advantage of Shkodran Mustafi's error in judgement to grab the lead for the visitors, before Palace added a third with a headed goal from James McArthur.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang reduced the deficit for the hosts with his 19th league goal of the campaign to set up a pulsating final 10 minutes but Palace held on to end Arsenal's 16-match unbeaten run at home in the league.
Five-goal THRILLER!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 21, 2019
Arsenal miss the chance to overtake Spurs as Crystal Palce hold the Gunners off in a goal-fest!
REPORT: https://t.co/zvzqmVsjz0 pic.twitter.com/4X5gs7b519
The result ensured Palace's Premier League status for another season as they moved to 12th spot in the standings with 42 points.
Arsenal remain fourth but fail to take advantage of defeats for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United earlier this weekend.
"It's nice to get over the 40-point marker and to have safety mathematically confirmed," Palace manager Roy Hodgson said.
Aubameyang strikes to level with Salah & Aguero...#PL pic.twitter.com/iaybeyswJw
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 21, 2019
"Our defensive shape was fantastic. We remained compact and narrow. We made it difficult to find spaces behind us. I then thought on the counter-attack we were remarkably dangerous."
Hodgson was particularly impressed by Benteke's return to the scoresheet after 19 league games and now expects the Belgian striker to finish the season with a flourish.
"Christian Benteke must be very confident after today's performance," the manager added.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka made eight interceptions against Arsenal today; the most by any player against a 'Big Six' side this season.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 21, 2019
Yet still overlooked for PFA Young Player of the Year... ? pic.twitter.com/zk7SfcVqFS
"It wasn't the fact he scored and set one up, he worked tirelessly and did a job offensively and defensively. He and Wilfried Zaha will feel they really did a job for the team.
"For Christian who's had a rough time with injuries and not scoring the amount of goals he wants maybe with the final few games he will score a few more."
RESULTS:
Arsenal 2 (Ozil 47, Aubameyang 77) Crystal Palace 3 (Benteke 17, Zaha 61, McArthur 69)
Cardiff 0 Liverpool 2 (Wijnaldum 57, Milner 81-pen)
Everton 4 (Richarlison 13, Sigurdsson 28, Digne 56, Walcott 64) Manchester United 0
English Premier League table (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Liverpool 35 27 7 1 79 20 88
Man City 34 28 2 4 87 22 86
Tottenham 34 22 1 11 64 35 67
Arsenal 34 20 6 8 68 43 66
Chelsea 34 20 6 8 57 36 66
Man Utd 34 19 7 8 63 48 64
Everton 35 14 7 14 50 44 49
Watford 34 14 7 13 49 49 49
Leicester 35 14 6 15 48 47 48
Wolves 34 13 9 12 41 42 48
West Ham 35 12 7 16 44 54 43
Crystal Palace 35 12 6 17 43 48 42
Newcastle 35 11 8 16 35 44 41
Bournemouth 35 12 5 18 49 62 41
Burnley 34 11 6 17 42 60 39
Southampton 34 9 9 16 40 57 36
Brighton 34 9 7 18 32 53 34
Cardiff 35 9 4 22 30 65 31
Fulham 35 6 5 24 33 76 23 -- relegated
Huddersfield 35 3 5 27 20 69 14 -- relegated