Arsenal produced a moment of brilliance and the steel to overcome controversy in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Monday night.
After a labouring first half in which they managed only one shot on target from their abundance of possession, the Gunners bagged the only goal courtesy of some ingenuity from Gabriel Martinelli early in the second period.
A quick free-kick from the Brazilian found Eddie Nketiah free in the box, forcing Sam Johnstone to scramble off his line and foul the striker. Martin Odegaard tucked the penalty away following a VAR check.
From early on, the game settled into a rhythm of Arsenal pressing for long spells and Palace looking to break out with pace.
Jordan Ayew caused the bulk of the early issues for the Gunners but they eventually settled into a sustained period in the hosts’ half that saw Nketiah go closest before the break, first hitting the post on 29 minutes shortly before a lovely Declan Rice pass saw him chip over from a glorious position.
In amongst Arsenal’s attacks, Ayew forced William Saliba into a superb sliding tackle in his own box where he had very little margin for error.
It took only nine minutes of pressure after the break for the visitors to grab the opener, which came from Martinelli’s quick thinking that benefited from Thomas Partey smartly holding back Jeffrey Schlupp to allow Nketiah to run freely at goal and win the spot-kick. VAR decided Partey’s move was legal and Odegaard calmly slotted home having taken penalty duties off Bukayo Saka.
RED CARD FOR TOMIYASU! 🟥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 21, 2023
What do you think of the decision? 😬 pic.twitter.com/sByfcMRptu
However, the officiating went against Arsenal when Takehiro Tomiyasu, only booked seven minutes earlier for time wasting, was harshly judged to have halted Ayew’s attempt to counter-attack and received his marching orders.
Mikel Arteta threw on Gabriel and Jorginho, and then Oleskandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior, as his side settled in under relentless pressure from Palace. Yet Aaron Ramsdale went largely untested as Arsenal came through a valuable early-season test to claim all three points.
