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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Dan Kilpatrick

Arsenal player ratings vs Crystal Palace: Declan Rice and Ben White stand tall as the going gets tough

Ten-man Arsenal came through a stern test to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park thanks to Martin Odegaard's penalty.

Odegaard sent Sam Johnstone the wrong way at the start of the second half after the goalkeeper had caught Eddie Nketiah. Arsenal played the final 25 minutes a man down after Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off for two bookable offences.

Here's how we rated the Arsenal players...

Aaron Ramsdale 7

Positioning was good and solid enough on the few occasions when called upon.

Thomas Partey 7

Inverted to add an extra man to the midfield and got forward well. Should have done better with a free header in the first half and lucky not to concede a penalty for a trip on Eberechi Eze.

Ben White 7

Good in possession and defended doggedly, particularly when Arsenal were a man down.

William Saliba 6

Had to be inch-perfect to dispossess Jordan Ayew in the first half, having carelessly lost the ball. A little less composed than usual but did his job, particularly in the final stages.

Takehiro Tomiyasu 5

Stretched by Ayew, who had the beating of the Japanese defender all night, but very unlucky to be shown a second yellow card for an innocuous challenge on the winger. His first booking for time-wasting was also harsh.

Declan Rice 8

Shielded the back four and used the ball well. He should have had a first-half assist after setting Nketiah clear.

Kai Havertz 5

Some decent touches but clearly still finding his feet in an Arsenal shirt.

Martin Odegaard 7

Made no mistake from the spot. Tested Johnstone with a fine curling effort in the first half and never stopped running.

Bukayo Saka 7

Occupied Palace's left flank and was always busy and involved, albeit without making a decisive impact.

Gabriel Martinelli 7

Got in some great positions but his final ball was mixed. Ultimately made the all-important breakthrough with a quick-thinking free-kick for Nketiah to win the pen.

Eddie Nketiah 7

Won the spot-kick with a canny darting run. So unlucky to strike the post after wriggling away from two defenders superbly but subsequently fluffed his lines when put through by Rice.

Substitutes

Gabriel (Martinelli 70') 6

Occasionally too tight to Ayew in an unfamiliar left-back role.

Jorginho (Nketiah 79') 6

Took up some good positions and tried to keep the ball -- but it was all Palace at the close.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (Odegaard 89') N/A

Jakub Kiwior (Saka 89') N/A

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