Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has maintained that “no-one is to blame” following their Carabao Cup quarter-final exit against Arsenal.
The Eagles were eliminated via a penalty shootout on Tuesday night, despite captain Marc Guehi scoring a dramatic 95th-minute equaliser to wipe out Maxence Lacroix’s earlier own goal.
Glasner said: “Of course, when you lose a game, when you lose on penalties, you’re always disappointed.
“On the other side, I’m delighted with the second-half performance today, especially after the first-half performance – that was really bad. Walter Benitez kept us in the game, but the second-half was much better, it was an all-even game.
“We had already two penalty shootouts this year, and we won both, and today Arsenal were the lucky team. To be honest, I’ve watched many penalty shootouts in my life, but I can’t remember having seen so many well-taken penalties. It’s always somebody who has to miss, and today it was one of our players, but nobody is to blame.
“I spoke to the players. For us, it’s important to build on the second-half performance and also show that great character again. All of a sudden, in the second half, one-nil down from a set-play, it looked like deja vu from the league game.
“Then, coming back again, with everything that’s happened in the last weeks and months, is a huge credit to the players for their mindset – so we’ll take many positives from today’s performance.”
Arsenal will now take on Chelsea in a two-legged semi-final, with a Wembley final against either Newcastle United or Manchester City on the line.
Mikel Arteta admitted he was relieved to navigate a stern challenge against a Palace side that have lifted both the FA Cup and Community Shield over the past year.
“We’re very happy to be in the semi-final,” he said. “We played against a team where it is very hard to generate chances. We generated a lot and should have had more goals.
“When you don’t close the game out, this can always happen, but the players were so composed with the penalties.
“In the second half, they were more aggressive but overall, it’s another victory, and I’m very happy.”