Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was quick to show solidarity with Invincible Patrick Vieira after the rampant Gunners routed sorry Palace 4-1 on Sunday.

The Arsenal legend was shown the door at Selhurst Park on Friday - 48 hours before he was due to take the Eagles to the Emirates.  

Vieira had 74 matches in charge of our London rivals before being dismissed on Friday - with Arteta noting change of manager made the fixture even more difficult.

“The focus was on Palace because we knew it was going to be tricky, even trickier with what unfortunately happened with Patrick,” Arteta said after the game.

“I want to send my best wishes to him and the coaching stuff, and all the best luck for the next chapter, which I’m sure will be really fascinating.

“We had to play against a difficult opponent, which they proved that they are. We had the right energy, we were dominant, we had the right purpose, we were ruthless to keep attacking and be really aggressive.”

Vieira had his name was regularly sung by the Emirates faithful during the second half.

Wonderful that the North Bank are singing Arsenal Invincible Patrick Vieira’s name here at the Emirates pic.twitter.com/564VkZdKEH

— Layth (@laythy29) March 19, 2023