Crystal Palace are holding Arsenal to a 1-1 draw in Sunday's Premier League clash at Selhurst Park, with Joel Ward's 25-yard strike cancelling out Olivier Giroud's volley.
The hosts started brightly as Ward's cross forced a corner just two minutes in, but the Gunners came close to opening the scoring four minutes later when Giroud's shot from close range, following an Aaron Ramsey cutback, was crowded out.
Both sides played a high-tempo game and fashioned a number of chances in the early stages, but the deadlock was broken by the visitors just after the quarter-hour mark when Mesut Ozil's cross from the left was acrobatically by Giroud from 16 yards out.
It was all Arsenal from then on as Alexis Sanchez caused havoc with a shot-cum-cross in the 24th minute, with Alex McCarthy's save nearly falling to Giroud on the rebound before being cleared.
Against the run of play, however, the Eagles equalised in stunning fashion when James McArthur's layoff was met by Ward, who unleashed a ferocious low drive from 25 yards that flew past Petr Cech and into the Gunners net.
Palace's momentum led to further forays into the opposition box and, just after the half-hour mark, Wilfried Zaha tumbled in the penalty area under the challenge of Nacho Monreal, leading to penalty appeals that were turned down.
With time running out in the first half, Ozil's low cross from the left was flicked goalwards by Ramsey, but McCarthy acrobatically flung himself to his left to parry the subsequent shot away.
Giuseppe Labellarte
