Arsenal fought a tough battle to secure a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Monday in their second Premier League game of the season. Mikel Arteta’s team got a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium on week one, with Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah scoring in the first half.

However, the trip to Selhurst Park was not so straightforward as both teams went into the break level and goalless. The second half was barely eight minutes old before the chance to open the scoring came from the penalty spot, with Martin Odegaard dispatching the penalty for an Arsenal lead.

Less than fifteen minutes later, the Gunners were reduced to ten men when Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off for a second bookable offense leaving Arsenal to play the final 20 minutes with a man down.

Arsenal’s summer signing from West Ham United, Declan Rice, said the final 20 minutes was a tough one for the team.

“You look at the clock, and there were 20 minutes to go, and against a young athletic side, it is tough. If you want to be up at the top at the end of the season, you have to show character and pluck out three points. I think it was a massive relief to get through them 20 minutes, we know what it is like at Selhurst Park, and we controlled the game completely until we went down to 10 men – we put our bodies on the line to get the three points.” Rice said.

The result means that the Gunners are one of the three teams that have a 100% record start to the season alongside Brighton and defending champions Manchester City who also have won their first two games of the season.

Arsenal’s next game will be a London derby against Fulham at Emirates Stadium this weekend, while Crystal Palace travel to Brentford.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu