Aubameyang goes from hero to villain as Arsenal held at Palace

Crystal Palace were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired the visitors ahead and was later sent off after Jordan Ayew scored a fortuitous equaliser for the home side.

Aubameyang fires in early opener

Aubameyang struck in the 12th minute, steering a low shot past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita after he was put through by Alexandre Lacazette, with Arsenal dominating an uneventful first half at Selhurst Park. Ayew levelled in the 54th minute with a heavily deflected shot which left keeper Bernd Leno stranded after it came off defender David Luiz, as the visitors failed to clear a tame-looking low cross from the right.

Arsenal reduced to 10 men

Aubameyang was shown a straight red card midway through the second half after a VAR check, following a rash tackle on Max Meyer which forced the Palace forward to limp off injured. Palace, who gained the upper hand in the closing stages with their numerical advantage, missed their best chance to grab a winner when Sokratis Papastathopoulos cleared a James Tomkins header off the line in the 78th minute. They were let of the hook three minutes later at the other end as Guaita tipped Nicolas Pépé's fierce low shot on to the post and then smothered Lacazette's close-range follow up.