Arsenal lost to Crystal Palace 3-2 in the Premier League on Sunday and with that, the Gunners lost a perfect opportunity to move up to the third spot.
The Gunners are now fourth on the table one point behind Spurs while the likes of Chelsea and Man United are breathing down the neck. In such a scenario, dropping three points against Palace could prove to be a really big stumble for the North London club.
And now even Unai Emery has claimed that they lost a big opportunity this Sunday.
The Spanish boss has said that he is frustrated with the result but at the same time, also optimistic that his club will be able to finish in the top four of the Premier League table.
“It was very frustrating because it was a big opportunity,” Unai Emery said.
“But we’ve had plenty of big opportunities before today, plenty of key moments, that give us the opportunity to achieve our first target, to play in the Champions League next year.
“But yes, today we lost a big opportunity. It doesn’t change our idea or plan for the next match. It’s in our hands. I still have confidence though and I want to be positive.”
Unai Emery has also made it clear that he will be rotating his players to keep them fit for the remainder of the season more so because so many of his first team regulars have picked up knocks during the past couple of matches.
“We have had some injuries, like with Aaron Ramsey, and we need to protect the players,” said Emery.
“For example, Xhaka asked to change in the second half against Napoli and could have played (against Palace), but with some risk.
“We need to protect our players and to use other players.
“We are playing with a lot of players and they give us the performance; we lost but we could also have lost with other players on the pitch.”
