Martin Odegaard’s penalty was enough to give Arsenal a 10-man 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace and maintain their winning start to the Premier League season.
Only Manchester City and Brighton won their first two games, but the Gunners joined them with six points after some minor success at Selhurst Park.
In a tight scramble, Captain Odegaard took the lead to take a penalty in the second half, with the visitors holding on until the last quarter of the game after Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off.
One-zero, to the Arsenal pic.twitter.com/pnuBEwMxgj
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 21, 2023
The defender was the only change in Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up since the victory over Nottingham Forest on the first day, as he replaced the injured Yourrien Timber at left-back, but he will now be suspended for Saturday’s visit to Fulham following a controversial dismissal here.
Palace – unchanged from their own win over Sheffield United a week ago – were coming out of the net quickly, Aaron Ramsdale making a low stop to block Eberechi Eze’s shot as the hosts picked up momentum.
Cheik Doucour then put on a wide speculative try as Arsenal struggled to gain a foothold in the tournament.
The guests gradually began to see the ball more, and Eddie Nketiah, unfortunately, saw how his shot rebounded from the post after defeating Sam Johnston in the Palace gate.
Both sides had good chances early in the game, with Jordan Ayew almost taking advantage of William Saliba’s bad touch, but the French defender made amends with a fine, final tackle.
Arsenal went to the other end, and Nketiah missed a great opportunity when he tried – and failed – to land a nimble shot at Johnston from close range.
Ødegaard was next, who was close to breaking the stalemate for Arteta’s team, his shot from outside the box knocking Johnston down.
Arsenal eventually took the lead shortly after the restart, Gabriel Martinelli’s quick free kick played in Nketiah, who fell to the ground under pressure from a sliding Johnston.
Referee David Coot pointed to the spot and the decision survived VAR’s check for Thomas Partey’s build-up foul, with Odegaard not wrong to send Johnston the wrong way from 12 yards.
RED CARD Takehiro Tomiyasu receives his second yellow card of the match and is sent off by referee David Coote. The arsenal was reduced to 10 people.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Arsenal (67 minutes) #CRIARS
— Premier League (@premierleague) August 21, 2023
Soon after, Koot made a couple more controversial calls, showing Tomiyasu a yellow card for wasting time on a face-off, then sacking Japan’s defender seven minutes later for a soft foul on Aya.
Arteta reacted by introducing Gabriel Magalhain in place of Martinelli, with Jorginho replacing Nketiah as Arsenal closed shop in the closing stages.
Jakub Kivior and a rebound Oleksandr Zinchenko added even more solidity to the defensive unit when Odegaard and Bukayo Saka stepped aside.
That was enough to keep Palace at bay, with Arsenal’s rear guard high-five and celebrating every challenge and clearance as long as they held on to secure the victory.