October 30 2018

Patrick van Aanholt

Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt has revealed a pre-match pep talk inspired Luka Milivojevic's penalty double against Arsenal.

Milivojevic saw his spot kick against Everton saved by keeper Jordan Pickford last week and the Eagles subsequently conceded two late goals afterwards to crash to a defeat from the jaws of victory.

When Palace were awarded two penalties against the Gunners on Sunday, Van Aanholt says he was confident his skipper – who had previously converted nine from 11 – was not going to miss on this occasion.

"We all knew he'd score the penalties," Van Aanholt told Palace TV. "I knew, I said to him, 'You're going to get one and you're going to score it. So, don't worry about it, it's a new game, it's a new chance'."

Milivojevic's first kick gave Palace a half-time lead against the in-form Arsenal and the captain rescued a point with his second late on for a 2-2 draw in a game the Eagles probably would have won on another day.

"It could have been a victory, of course," added Van Aanholt. "But fortunately we didn't lose so I'm happy with that. We'll take a point but we'd sooner have three.

"I think we had a brilliant game you know, we started very strongly. We knew they were going to press us – they're a pressing team as the gaffer warned us. But we had a game plan and we stuck to it."