Arsenal's top-four hopes were dented by a 3-0 defeat to an impressive Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday. 

The Gunners were unable to reclaim their spot in the Premier League top four having been leapfrogged by arch-rival Tottenham, which defeated Newcastle United 5-1 a day earlier. 

Arsenal struggled to cope with the intensity of Palace – coached by former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira – and shipped goals to Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew in quick succession in the first half. 

After failing to take the chances that came its way, Arsenal was punished by a 74th-minute spot-kick from Wilfried Zaha that ended its hopes of mounting a late comeback. 

Arsenal had the lion's share of possession in the opening quarter of an hour but they fell behind when Mateta nodded Joachim Andersen's cushioned header into the back of the net. 

Palace doubled its lead eight minutes later when Gabriel Magalhaes failed to cut out Andersen's throughball to Ayew, who curled a fine finish into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box. 

Arteta replaced Nuno Tavares with Gabriel Martinelli at half-time and shifted Granit Xhaka to left-back but the Gunners still looked ponderous when attacking. 

Arsenal was found wanting when chances did come their way too. Emile Smith Rowe produced a tame effort when presented with a decent opportunity and in the 67th minute Martin Odegaard failed to hit the target from 12 yards out. 

Those misses proved costly when, after a long delay, referee Paul Tierney pointed to the spot after Odegaard's tackle on Zaha in the box and the Ivory Coast winger dispatched the resulting penalty. 

Eddie Nketiah struck the upright with a swirling attempt in the closing stages but Palace continued to frustrate the Gunners until the final whistle.