KEPA Arrizabalaga was the hero as he saved the decisive penalty from Maxence Lacroix to help Arsenal beat Crystal Palace in a shootout and progress to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup in a game packed with late drama.
The Gunners thought they had won the match when the unfortunate Lacroix scored an own goal in the 80th minute, bundling the ball into his own net when trying to clear after an Arsenal corner.
However, Palace got a dramatic leveller in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Adam Wharton floated in a free-kick and Marc Guehi was the quickest to react to Jefferson Lerma’s knockdown to score from close range.
Declan Rice then had a chance to win the match for Arsenal with the last kick of the game, but he could not score past the excellent Walter Benitez.
The stand-in Palace goalkeeper had been their best player throughout the match, making two excellent saves from Gabriel Jesus to keep the scores level until the latter stages.
The Palace centre-back’s night got worse when he stepped up with the score at 8-7 in a high-quality penalty shootout and Arrizabalaga got down well to his right to push the ball away and give Arsenal the win.
The Gunners move into the last four of the competition and will face London rivals Chelsea over two legs for a place in the final.
Mikel Arteta will be pleased that his side managed to get through penalties to reach the semi-finals but the way that his players managed the tie will have disappointed the Arsenal manager.
The Gunners were again far from their best and missed a host of chances before Lacroix’s late own goal.
Arteta made eight changes to the side that beat Everton 1-0 at the weekend, with Gabriel Jesus coming in for his first start in 345 days after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury – and the performance felt disjointed.
Even by his own standards Arteta was exceptionally emotional in his technical area, and only became more lively as the game ticked into the final couple of minutes.
William Saliba gave away a needless free-kick in stoppage time which led to the Palace equaliser but fortunately for him, his team-mates ensured that his mistake did not lead to them exiting the competition.
Arsenal had a small wobble recently, with draws against Sunderland and Chelsea and a loss to Aston Villa, and even though they have started a new run of victories, Arsenal are not near to the levels of performance they set at the beginning of the season.
With the FA Cup and Community Shield in the trophy cabinet and a first European campaign under way, things are pretty good in south London.
However, there is the feeling that things could be even better if their top-class manager Oliver Glasner had more options in his squad.
The Palace boss made three changes to the side thrashed at Leeds but the Eagles have started to falter and look tired in recent weeks, as their increased fixture schedule starts to catch-up with their relatively small squad.
However, in the main, Glasner has made them exceptionally resolute and it was that belief that helped them equalise late on.
Palace are without injured key player Daniel Munoz, lost Chris Richards to what looked like a serious injury during the game and have striker Jean-Philippe Mateta carrying an injury, but Glasner is still managing to keep his side competitive in multiple competitions.
The Eagles almost forced their way through to the last four but, although disappointed, they should be pleased with the fight they showed against a top team.