Arsenal kicked off their 2022-2023 Premier League season with a 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace.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.
It could have been for Arsenal as Martinelli missed a sitter after just four minutes. 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 Arteta said 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. “We had some moments, you need your goalkeeper because to be honest, they had the biggest chance in the game, that one v one and Aaron did incredibly well and he won the game for us..”
Arteta is not wrong about Ramsdale’s performance. He made a couple of really good saves and Palace also missed at least two good opportunities where you would typically expect them to score.
That was the worry about Arsenal this season. They look really good going forward, but is the defense strong enough to get them into the top four? Even after a clean sheet against Palace, the jury is still out on that.
