The Eagles started the game brightly and could have taken the lead in the opening minutes when Wilfried Zaha’s crisp low strike struck the inside of the post, before ricocheting – via Aaron Ramsdale – wide.
In a reversal of the form book prior to the game, Palace continued to press and create the better chances early on, but Arsenal’s opening goal via Gabriel Martinelli paved the way for them to start to pull away.
Yet even at 3-1 down, Palace continued to create chances and came close to mounting a second-half comeback – Zaha seeing another effort creep narrowly wide – before, in McCarthy’s eyes, Arsenal’s fourth killed off the game as a contest.
The coach told Palace TV: “Given the circumstances over the last couple of days, in retrospect, there were positives to take.
“They [Arsenal] are at the top of the league for a reason. They’re well-organised. They’ve got bundles of athleticism, good attacking quality all over the park, and seem to come up with solutions whichever way you try to stop them.
“I thought we stopped them a lot early on in the game. We created two good clear-cut chances which could have let us go ahead, but it just wasn’t to be.
“I think even at 3-1, the boys showed good character, resilience and robustness to keep going, and we had that chance with Wilfried just before they went up and scored that fourth goal, which was obviously disappointing to concede because when you look back at it, it’s clearly offside, given the rules.
