Arsenal had to fight tooth and nail to beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Selhurst Park in a match that the Gunners wanted to end as soon as possible.
Mikel Arteta made just one change from the team that beat Nottingham Forest last weekend but Crystal Palace put up stuff resistance to Arsenal’s attacks, and spared some time to create some chances of their own.
Arsenal however, had the better chances in the first half, mostly through Eddie Nketiah but the Englishman failed to convert them. He came closest in the 29th minute but his low effort hit the upright and was cleared.
Both teams shared the spoils at halftime with neither side putting the ball at the back of the net.
In the second half, Arsenal came with more attacking force and got the breakthrough in the 54th minute when Nketiah was fouled in the area by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard converted the resulting penalty to give his side the lead, and Crystal Palace something to chase.
But the Gunners were dealt a blow in the 67th minute when Takehiro Tomiyasu was shown a second yellow card and a sent off after fouling Andre Ayew.
This prompted Arsenal to change their formation and defaulted into a defensive mode, and kept it up until the final whistle amidst Palace’s pressure towards the end.
This was Mikel Arteta’s first Premier League win as an Arsenal manager on a Monday night, and Crystal Palace manager, Roy Hodgson’s fifth defeat against the Spaniard.
