Arsenal were denied three points by a late equaliser from Jean-Philippe Mateta in their 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Jakub Kiwior and Leandro Trossard scored either side on Eberechi Eze’s stunner to put Mikel Arteta’s side in control at the Emirates Stadium.
A rare mistake from William Saliba late on allowed Mateta to audaciously lob the ball over David Raya to claim a point for his side and put Liverpool on the brink of the Premier League title.
Gabriel Martinelli thought he had put Arsenal 3-1 up midway through the second half only to be denied by the officials in a confusing flashpoint in the game, Keith Hackett has given his verdict on the incident.
Keith Hackett’s verdict on Arsenal’s disallowed goal v Crystal Palace
Ex-PGMOL chief Hackett has stated that he believes that a ‘guess’ from the match officials ruled out Martinelli’s strike after Jurrien Timber crossed the ball from the goal line.
Originally the linesman flagged for offside before the goal eventually being ruled out because the ball was deemed to be out of play before Timber’s cross.
Hackett stated: “Last night Arsenal had a goal ruled out on what was a ‘Guess’ The Assistant Referee rather than following the play to the corner flag wrongly raised his flag to indicate offside.
The former referee then gave a scathing review of the decision by making the extraordinary claim that: “No one was looking at the goal line to determine the ball was out.”
It is yet another decision that the Gunners can feel aggrieved at this season following countless incidents involving the likes of Myles Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice among others.
If Arteta’s side are to win their first league title since 2004 next season, they will need to have a few more decisions go their way than they have experienced in this campaign.
Arsenal’s draw gives Mikel Arteta selection headache
The Gunners would have been hoping to secure three points against Palace in order to cement their spot in second place, especially with their next game against Bournemouth sandwiched in between the Champions League semi-final.
Mikel Merino and Ben White were injured for the recent clash and Arteta would have been hoping to rest and rotate his squad in order to give his stars a rest in between the PSG games.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 33 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 75 | 31 | 44 | 79 |
| 2 |  ArsenalArsenal | 34 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 63 | 29 | 34 | 67 |
| 3 |  Man CityManchester City | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 66 | 43 | 23 | 61 |
| 4 |  Nottm ForestNottingham Forest | 33 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 53 | 39 | 14 | 60 |
| 5 |  NewcastleNewcastle | 33 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 62 | 44 | 18 | 59 |
However, both Newcastle and Nottingham Forest could make up more ground on Arsenal by the time they host Bournemouth in their next match and all of a sudden the Gunners may feel the pressure.
Arsenal face tough matches against Liverpool and Newcastle before the end of the campaign too, therefore not all the focus can be on Europe just yet.
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