Arsenal too strong for Palace on opening night

Arsenal took maximum points on the opening night of the Premier League with a goal in each half enough to sweep aside Crystal Palace 2-0.

Expectation and excitement levels have grown around the Emirates after an impressive pre-season and Mikel Arteta’s side delivered on the opening night with Gabriel Martinelli and a Marc Guehi own goal enough for the points.

New signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko both played their part with the Brazil striker a constant threat through the middle and Zinchenko providing the assist for Martinelli’s headed first-half goal.

Palace improved as the game wore on and Aaron Ramsdale was called upon to make two top saves before some tricky work from Bukayo Saka led to Guehi heading past his own goalkeeper with six minutes left.

“We are top of the league,” sang the away end at full-time.

How Gunners delivered on opening night…

Arsenal wasted no time in stamping their authority on the game, which quietened down the raucous home crowd. Martinelli blazed an early chance wide after some superb solo dribbling from Jesus, who looked like he had been playing in an Arsenal shirt all his life.

Much like last season, Arsenal decided to sit on a lead which allowed Palace to grow into the game. Ramsdale had to be alert to divert Odsonne Edouard’s close-range header away from goal from what was Palace’s first attempt on goal just before the break.

Ramsdale was called into action again on 52 minutes when denying Eberechi Eze on the angle after the former QPR man was found by a clever pass from Wilfried Zaha.

Palace had good flow and maintained their attacks in search of an equaliser but the greater threat came from the away side as Jesus’ persistent work off the ball almost led to Martin Odegaard – captain for the first time – fluffing his lines inside the box.

With Arsenal defending their box with great resolution, Saka grabbed the game by the scruff and made the game safe with some outstanding wing play. His cross was clumsily headed home by Guehi and allowed the Arsenal fans to relax for the remaining six minutes. They can certainly be excited for what could be on the cards this season as the club look to improve on their fifth-placed finish last term.

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Analysis: Is this a different Arsenal?

Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones:

How excited should Arsenal fans be getting right now? Has the introduction of the new recruits seriously taken them to the next level? Of course, only time will tell but this was an Arsenal performance in keeping with much of their tidy work of last season built around resolution and grit.

Arteta has them supremely well-organised without the ball and the base of their defence is one of the best around, led by Gabriel and backed up by Ramsdale when required. It was that base that led them to victory at Selhurst Park with the added zest and enthusiasm of Jesus in attack an obvious upgrade on what Alexandre Lacazette provided for the majority of his time in an Arsenal shirt.

It’s a lazy observation to define Arsenal as brittle these days. Many teams would have crumbled under the pace and threat provided by Palace, especially in the second half. However, Arteta has found a smart way of defending resolutely in key areas with the team cohesion at the back perfectly summed up by the performance of William Saliba, who slotted in very impressively to the defensive structure.

Opta stats: Arteta reaches half-century

Arteta has won 50 league matches as Arsenal manager after 98 games in charge, making him the second-quickest manager to reach 50 top-flight wins for the Gunners after Ars?ne Wenger (94th game).Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka was shown a yellow card for the 53rd time in the Premier League, the joint-most of any player in the competition since he debuted in 2016-17, along with Oriol Romeu.Arsenal have scored 14 goals from corner situations in the Premier League since the start of last season, with only Manchester City and Liverpool scoring more goals in this manner (15 each).

What’s next?

Crystal Palace have a 10-day break now until their next fixture on Monday 15 August against Liverpool at Anfield, live on Sky Sports. Meanwhile, Arsenal play their first home game of the season next Saturday at 3pm when Leicester visit The Emirates.