Under the floodlights at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal and Crystal Palace served up a Carabao Cup quarter-final that felt had everything that a football encounter can provide. Possession football, counter attacks, goals, and a brilliant penalty shootout. But the there was something else that decided the outcome of the match.

Good football or bad luck?

It was probably the bad luck of a man that decided this Carabao cup quarterfinal. While a lot of football was played, at the end of regulation time and the shootout, it was bad luck that haunted Maxence Lacroix, Crystal Palace’s centre-back, that made all the difference. Lacroix had the ball pinging off his feet in a melee to concede an own goal to give Arsenal the lead. After Marc Guehi had equalised in injury time, it was again Lacroix whose penalty, the 16th of a great shootout, was saved by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

You could not blame Lacroix if he wanted to have this day cut from the calendar forever.

In the first half,  Palace was woeful as Arsenal kept possession and attacked almost at will. It was the heroics of their second keeper, Benitez, that stopped Arsenal from running away with the game. A brilliant save denied Gabriel Jesus his first goal on return from a long injury break. Then the Argentine denied Justin Timber, who was a poke away from getting on the score sheet. While the second half saw a much-improved Palace, it was a game Arsenal could have won in a canter. They were wasteful and then conceded an equaliser, forcing the game to a shootout.

While the Gunners were in control for most of the time, they were guilty of not capitalising on the chances they created. The lack of clear goals remains a glaring issue for Arsenal. A good game of football is what many would call it, but then Lacroix would love to forget it and get on with life.

The semifinal beckons

The goals have to start coming if Arsenal have to go all the way in the Premier League and the other competitions they are involved in. While team showed resilience in the field and great composure in the shootout, the struggles in front of the goal are a reminder of the fine margins that could undo all the good. Arsenal head into a double-headed semifinal encounter with Chelsea, while Manchester City and Newcastle face off in the other semifinal. The Gunners will need to be more productive in front of the goal if they have to put it past the Blues.

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