Arsenal got their Barclays Premier League campaign up and running at Selhurst Park as a Damien Delaney own goal secured a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
Having been pegged back before half-time, Arsenal, who were beaten by West Ham United on the opening day, claimed the three points thanks to a goal just before the hour as Delaney handed the visitors their sixth successive win over Palace.
Olivier Giroud had netted his first goal of the season with a superb finish after 16 minutes to give Arsene Wenger’s side the lead, before Joel Ward recorded the second BPL goal of his career to level the contest. The Gunners’ advantage was restored 10 minutes into the second half as Delaney diverted Alexis Sanchez’s header beyond Alex McCarthy.
Home debutant Connor Wickham passed up a decent chance to earn Palace a point, while the introduction of loanee Patrick Bamford preceded a late rally in which both Jordon Mutch and Ward went close. But Arsenal held firm to get their first points of the campaign, helping to atone for the 2-0 home reverse against West Ham.
Keen to put that result quickly behind them, Arsenal made a positive start and Giroud and Sanchez were both denied inside 10 minutes by crucial defensive blocks. With Arsenal’s early dominance the opening goal seemed inevitable and duly arrived after 16 minutes as Giroud’s acrobatic volley found the far corner from Mesut Ozil’s precise delivery from the left.
A second looked likely as Wenger’s side, who made two changes from the West Ham defeat, enjoyed prolonged spells of possession but, against the run of play, Palace drew level. As the half-hour approached, Yannick Bolasie and James McArthur combined well on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area to set up Ward whose low drive fizzed past Petr Cech.
Spurred on by the vocal home support, Palace, with Bolasie and Wickham making their first starts of the campaign, began to threaten more, but they needed a reflex save from McCarthy to keep out Aaron Ramsey’s front-post flick before the break.
Palace made a vibrant start to the second half and went close to taking the lead three minutes in as Wickham crashed an effort off a post from Wilfried Zaha’s cross. The new Palace striker was to rue his miss as the visitors retook the lead, Sanchez’s towering back-post header turned into his own net by the unfortunate Delaney.
Ramsey might have extended Arsenal’s advantage further after 67 minutes following a flowing move down the left, the Wales midfielder superbly picked out by Ozil before lashing over the bar.
Palace applied late pressure in their search for an equaliser with Wickham, Mutch and Ward all wasting openings, while McCarthy was needed to make one last save to prevent Santi Cazorla from stretching Arsenal’s winning margin.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew: “The game was very even, they play a different style. They were good, much better than against West Ham. Sharper in the mind and we stlll feel aggrieved we haven’t come out with anything.
“The three new boys were our best players and we know the others are great. That is a good sign. Arsenal were a hurt animal.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “I’m very pleased with the three points. If we had gone two games and zero points it would be absolutely difficult and we knew this would be a tricky one.
“Last week we had a bit of a stroll and thought we would win the game. Today we played real Premier League football from the first minute to the last. With the ambitions we have made you have to have full commitment and we had that.
“We really wanted to play our game, but even though we won we could have killed game [earlier]. We could have scored more goals with better choices, but we are very happy to get three points, that is the main thing for the team.”
source:premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 