Premier League

CRYSTAL PALACE 0
ARSENAL 1 (Odegaard 54 pen, Tomiyasu sent off 67)

IN a Monday night full of cards, niggly fouls and penalty shouts, Arsenal showed they are ready for the fight ahead as they battled their way to a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace to maintain their winning start to the new Premier League season.

Skipper Martin Odegaard converted from the spot in the 54th minute after Eddie Nketiah was brought down in the box by Palace keeper Sam Johnstone.

A clever, albeit simple, free-kick routine caught the Palace players sleeping as Gabriel Martinelli slipped in a pass for Nketiah, who found himself through on goal before being taken out by Johnstone.

Arsenal had dominated the match for large spells, and when they took the lead the expectations were that Mikel Arteta’s side would then push on to seal the win in almost carefree fashion.

But life is rarely that simple in the Premier League. Not long after the hour mark the Gunners were reduced to 10-men after Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off after picking up two quick yellow cards. Both bookings seemed harsh: the first for supposedly time wasting whilst taking a throw in, and the second for a foul on Jordan Ayew.

Arteta praised his players for managing to “adapt” following the red card, and “surviving” to earn the Gunners boss his first victory on a Monday night away from home since taking over at the club.

Reflecting on Tomiyasu’s dismissal, Arteta said: “The decision is made, we are not going to change it now. We adapted to it, unfortunately it made the game obviously much tougher and normally you drop points when you have to play in this league for 30 minutes away from home.

“To survive the way we did is not something that usually happens, but we are so happy that we overcame that big hurdle.”

On the night, it could have been two or three for the Gunners had they converted their chances.

In the first half, Nketiah had two big chances to put the visitors in front. The first came from a superbly timed run that saw the striker let the ball roll past him before turning to get a shot away which hit the post.

The second was an even cleverer move from the Arsenal forward, who left Palace defenders chasing shadows as he found space in the box. Perhaps making the finish more complicated than it needed to be, Nketiah tried to chip the keeper from close range but the ball went over the bar.

As it was, a sole penalty, won by Nketiah, would settle matters. Odegaard coolly sent Johnstone the wrong way to finally break the deadlock after stepping up to take the spot-kick – surprising those who were expecting Bukayo Saka to be on penalty duty.

Quizzed if Odegaard is Arsenal’s new penalty taker, Arteta said: “I have no clue, it’s about leadership of players, and if they felt it was the right thing to do.

“For me I’m fine. They have to make those decisions on the pitch. I was surprised like everybody else, but he scored the goal which is the important thing and we won the game.”

Palace had chances to earn something from the game. Eberechi Eze wastefully blazed a free-kick on the edge of the box over the bar. The attacking midfielder also saw calls for a penalty waved away after going down inside the area having initiated contact with Thomas Partey.

Tyrick Mitchell also went close, firing over late on. But the hosts were unable to unlock Arsenal’s stubborn defence as the Gunners held out for the win to move level on points with Brighton and Manchester City at the top of the table.

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Ward (Rak-Sakyi, 83), Andersen, Guehi, Mitchell, Lerma, Doucoure, J Ayew, Eze, Schlupp (Ahamada, 74), Édouard
Substitutes not used: Tomkins, Clyne, Richards, Matthews, Gordon, Riedewald.

Arsenal: Ramsdale, Partey, White, Saliba, Tomiyasu, Odegaard (Zinchenko, 89), Rice, Havertz, Saka (Kiwior, 89), Martinelli (Gabriel, 70), Nketiah (Jorginho, 79)
Substitutes not used: Smith Rowe, Trossard, Vieira, Raya, Nelson