The Eagles’ 28th match of an incredibly busy 2025/26 season so far was also Palace’s third in three different competitions in the space of six days.
Yet although the game ended in the disappointment of a penalty shootout defeat, Hughes and his teammates could draw plenty of confidence from securing a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium inside 90 minutes.
“Disappointment, obviously,” Hughes described the overall emotion. “Going out on penalties is not nice.
“I think we were a bit sloppy in the first half. We rode our luck at times, but managed to get ourselves into it late in the second-half. It’s always disappointing to lose on penalties.
“It's easy to say it's down to tiredness, but you look at the second-half performance, and we were anything but tired. We came into the game stronger as it went on.
“Arsenal are a top team, and you have to look at some points in the game. But I think overall, especially in the second-half, we did well.”