Nobody doubts that Arsenal will need time to absorb Mikel Arteta’s methods but, by the same token, some examples are not to be taken. In October 2013, Arteta captained them here and proceeded to score before being harshly sent off.

When Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the current captain, put them ahead six and a quarter years on it ensured the happier part of that occasion would be repeated, but the picture would again turn sour and, this time, there were no grounds for complaint.

Arsenal had become frustrated after an almost untouchable first 25 minutes, Palace niggling away thereafter to the extent it was little surprise when Jordan Ayew scored a deflected equaliser after half-time.

But that does not explain away the game’s grim abiding image, which was that of Max Meyer’s left ankle bending under the impact of a terrible challenge that meant Aubameyang was dismissed via a VAR review midway through the second half.

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Meyer had nicked the ball past Aubameyang near the halfway line and, at full speed, the tackle seemed little more than a careless clip. Paul Tierney was quick to issue a booking but it was soon clear different ideas would be forming at Stockley Park.

It had been a reckless and potentially career-threatening action, Aubameyang’s studs crashing into Meyer’s grounded ankle. Fortunately, Meyer was able to limp off, with the extent of his injury expected to be clearer on Monday. The damage was certainly not as severe as it might have been; nonetheless, after a two-minute delay Aubameyang was shown the red card and when a replay was finally shown on the big screens the crowd’s gasps reflected the offence’s severity.

“I just watched it and it looked nasty,” said Arteta. “Knowing Auba, there’s no intention to make such a tackle. Hopefully [Meyer] hasn’t been injured and we are sorry for that. The decision was made and we have to accept it.”

Aubameyang will miss three games and, if nothing else, his absence may offer Arteta a glimpse of life without a player who is yet to begin talks about extending his contract.

Roy Hodgson will be happy if that is the extent of Meyer’s lay-off, wondering aloud whether the forward’s positive outlook in the dressing room was optimism or bravado. Like his opposite number Hodgson saw no malicious intent in what was, to apply every sense of the term, a striker’s tackle. “I want to emphasise I’m not accusing Aubameyang of trying to injure the player,” he said. “I’m sure he didn’t. It’s the type of challenge a forward trying to recover and show the right degree of aggression sometimes makes.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Crystal Palace celebrate the equaliser against Arsenal scored by Jordan Ayew (No 9). Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Any idea this would be a game defined by physicality seemed absurd early on. Arsenal popped the ball around at will and Palace had not made a meaningful entry into their half before Aubameyang’s 12th-minute opener. It was a beautifully conceived goal, David Luiz sliding a low, firm ball down the heart of the pitch and Mesut Özil smartly laying it off to Alexandre Lacazette. The resulting through ball was perfect and the entire move presented a snapshot of the incisive combinations Arteta will demand from a group of players who need to find consistency.

What followed, though, was a precis of the mess he has inherited. The sight of an injury-blighted Palace working their way back into the contest, more through getting in Arsenal’s faces than anything they produced in possession, was reminiscent of the manner they dug in to turn around a two-goal deficit at the Emirates in October.

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There was also a sense of déjà vu in the way Arsenal switched off from a quick free-kick nine minutes after the interval, allowing Meyer to cross and then letting Cheikhou Kouyaté tee up Ayew. His shot struck David Luiz and looped up over Bernd Leno as if in slow motion.

Palace had hardly been dominant but Arsenal’s lack of focus will give most opponents a chance and Arteta knows it is something he must change. “At this level if you switch off for two seconds, five seconds, you will concede a goal straight away,” he said. “I’m going to have to find a way to try and avoid those situations. It happened today and it cost us two points.”

It might not have done had Vicente Guaita, tipping Nicolas Pépé’s raking strike on to the post and then smothering Lacezette’s rebound, failed to stop Arsenal’s 10 men executing a late heist.

Palace could have won it when Sokratis Papastathopoulos cleared James Tomkins’s deflected header off the line; a draw was fair but both teams were left to count a potentially heavy cost.