Arsenal wins 1-0 against Palace thanks to an Odegaard penalty.
Martin Odegaard’s penalty was enough to earn 10-man Arsenal a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace, extending their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.
Only Manchester City and Brighton had won their first two games, but Arsenal joined them on six points following a tight victory at Selhurst Park.
Arsenal wins 1-0 against Palace thanks to an Odegaard penalty.
In a hard-fought game, captain Odegaard stepped up to score a second-half penalty, with the visitors hanging on for the final quarter after Takehiro Tomiyasu was sent off.
The defender was the sole change to Mikel Arteta’s starting XI from their opening-day victory over Nottingham Forest, replacing the injured Jurrien Timber at left-back – but he will now be suspended for Saturday’s visit of Fulham following a contentious dismissal here.
Palace were quick out of the blocks, with Aaron Ramsdale making a low stop to keep out an Eberechi Eze drive as the hosts built up a head of steam.
Cheick Doucoure then fired a speculative effort wide as Arsenal fought to gain control of the game.
The visitors eventually gained control of the ball, and Eddie Nketiah’s shot rebounded against a post after beating Sam Johnstone in the Palace goal.
Both sides had good chances as the game opened up, with Jordan Ayew almost capitalizing on a weak William Saliba touch, only for the France defender to make apologies with a wonderful, last-ditch challenge.
Arsenal counter-attacked, and Nketiah squandered a golden opportunity by attempting – and failing – to complete a beautiful lob over Johnstone from close range.
Odegaard was the next Arteta player to come close to breaking the deadlock, but his curling shot from outside the area was pushed over by Johnstone.
Soon after the restart, Arsenal took the lead thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s fast free kick, which found Nketiah, who went to ground under pressure from the sliding Johnstone.
Referee David Coote pointed to the spot, and the decision was upheld after a VAR review for a foul by Thomas Partey in the build-up, with Odegaard making no mistake from 12 yards out.
Coote would soon make another controversial decision, yellow-carding Tomiyasu for wasting time at a throw-in before removing the Japan full-back seven minutes later for a soft tackle on Ayew.
Arteta responded by bringing on Gabriel Magalhaes in place of Martinelli, while Jorginho came on for Nketiah as Arsenal closed down shop in the final stages.
As Odegaard and Bukayo Saka were replaced, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko gave even more grit to the defensive unit.
It was enough to keep Palace at away, with the Arsenal backline high-fiving and applauding every challenge and clearing as they held on for the victory.
