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Arsenal were dealt a major blow to their Premier League top four hopes as they succumbed to a 2-3 loss to Crystal Palace at the Emirates on Sunday.
The Gunners had the ultimate opportunity to move ahead of Tottenham Hotspur after the North London rivals dropped points against Manchester City on Saturday. However, the loss now means Chelsea could go above them if they avoid defeat against Burnley later tonight.
Both Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang found the back of the net but Arsenal's defensive shortcomings helped the visitors to take full advantage and establish a win.
Shkodran Mustafi’s mistake that allowed Wilfried Zaha to score Palace's second goal has particularly gotten the Gunners brigade riled up.
When asked about the German's performance, Arsenal boss Unai Emery refused to criticise, saying (via The Standard),
"He has been consistent."
"They [Crystal Palace] have very good players. Secondly at set-pieces we didn't work and be strong like we are doing all season."
"We can speak to players usually and they can play very well, sometimes not play with due diligence, but I prefer to speak about consistency throughout the season."
"Every player is helping and playing with big performances but, today, defending against Benteke and Zaha you can suffer more."
"If today, we were better at set pieces maybe we could win this match. Also, we controlled the possession but they defended well. We didn't find the best situation to score."
Fans believe that Emery himself was partly to blame for making seven changes to the first team in what has been deemed to be an under-estimation of their visitors.
Mustafi, who has put unconvincing performances all season, has now come under fire on social media as fans take to Twitter to address his performance:
