Arsenal start Premier League season with a win against Crystal Palace

Posted Saturday, August 06, 2022 by Goal.com

A strike from Gabriel Martinelli and an own goal from Marc Guehi gave the Gunners the three points on Friday

Arsenal got the new Premier League campaign off to a strong start with a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on Friday. The two sides got the new season underway with a clash at Selhurst Park that saw Mikel Arteta's team take the three points.

Gabriel Martinelli gave the Gunners the lead in the first-half before they doubled their lead with the help of an own goal by Marc Guehi.

What happened during Crystal Palace vs Arsenal?

Martinelli had a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the lead just four minutes into the clash against Patrick Vieira's team.

A fantastic dribble from Gabriel Jesus ended with the ball falling perfectly in front of Martinelli deep in the Palace box, but he sent his effort across the face of the goal.

But the Brazilian made amends for his miss when a corner was sent towards the back post. The ball was headed back across goal and Martinelli was there to divert it into the net.

It was not until the last five minutes of the match that Arsenal doubled their advantage.

Bukayo Saka found his way into the Palace box with a neat run and sent it into the centre, where Guehi ended up knocking it into the net.

What did Arteta say about Arsenal's victory?

Arsenal boss Arteta believes the victory will give his side a significant boost, telling Sky Sports: "The most important thing is to win the first match, to build confidence and momentum, and then you can talk about things we need to improve - there were quite a few today, to be honest."

He added: "You need the right balance because if you come short in terms of physicality in this game, you’re going to be exposed. To have players at the back of the right size is really important in these kinds of matches.

"That’s the resilience we need to win football matches and see them through. Aaron Ramsdale did incredibly well from the one-on-one and won the game for us."

Speaking of the corner kick move that resulted in the opening goal, Arteta said: "One of the set-piece coaches created the routine for the first goal and we practised it yesterday.

"Gabriel Jesus has the fear factor: he is always on your shoulder, he’s never standing still, he’s always moving and he’s so sharp. He has the intuition to get the ball off you so it’s difficult for defenders."

What next for Crystal Palace and Arsenal?

Arsenal will look to build on their opening day victory when they are back in action on August 13 with a home game against Leicester.

Seven days later, they will meet Bournemouth in their third game of the Premier League campaign.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, will have a tough time bouncing back from their loss as they take on runners-up Liverpool on August 15, which will be followed by clashes against Aston Villa and champions Manchester City.