«They bottle it, they’re cowards, they duck out of challenges,» was the scathing verdict of former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports.

«The best description of the players was two years ago from Graeme Souness, who said they are a team of son-in-laws. But what father would want his daughter to bring one of them home?»

It was Arsenal’s fourth successive away defeat in the Premier League and left them seven points off the Champions League places with a game in hand.

Furious away fans taunted Arsenal’s misfiring players with chants of «You’re not fit to wear the shirt!» and barracked Wenger and his squad as they boarded the team bus after the match.

The back-page headline in The Times, a riff on Palace’s nickname, read: «Eagles 3 Butterflies 0.»

The Daily Telegraph said the result at Selhurst Park represented «humiliation», while The Sun asked of Wenger: «How can he stay after Selhurst shambles?»

Several newspapers said Arsenal had reached «a new low».

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