Arsenal won despite losing people in the English Premier League
In the 51st minute, Gabriel Martinelli took a quick free kick to let Eddie Nketiah down and was fouled by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the penalty area, bringing the penalty. Captain Odegaard took charge. He ran the momentum and then dropped to the left, against Johnstone's judgment, scoring the only goal of the game.
This is the first time the Norwegian midfielder has played and scored from a penalty in the league, since wearing the Vitesse shirt against De Graafschap in the Eredivise in May 2019. Since the start of the Premier League last season, Odegaard is the third player to reach ten goals away from home after Erling Haaland and Harry Kane (both 16).
Not long after Odegaard's table, Arsenal fell into a shortage of people. Full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu received two yellow cards in the 60th and 67th minutes, respectively, for buying time for a throw-in and then impacting Jordan Ayew in Crystal Palace's ball situation. Coach Mikel Arteta immediately sent Gabriel Magalhaes to replace Martinelli to strengthen the defense.
In the remaining 20 minutes, the visitors have to fight against Crystal Palace's bombardment. Besides the excellence of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and the quartet of defenders, Arsenal's preservation of three points is partly due to the lack of grace of the home strikers. Including a situation in the 86th minute, when Tyrick Mitchell crossed the ball from the left wing, but Odsonne Edouard headed the post in an unmarked position.
At Selhurst Park, in the context of Jurrien Timber's long-term break with an ACL injury in his right knee and Oleksandr Zinchenko's not in the best shape, Arteta pulled Thomas Partey at right-back and Tomiyasu kicked the opposite wing. William Saliba continues to play central defender with Ben White, while the midfield trio is Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Odegaard.
The first half was tense and the most notable situation came in the 29th minute, when Nketiah installed both midfielders Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi before shooting diagonally across the column. In the second half, Arsenal started well and took the lead thanks to Odegaard, before focusing on defending in a short position in the second half.
Last year, Arsenal won 2-0 at Selhurst Park thanks to Bukayo Saka and Guehi's counter-kick. This is the first time they have won two consecutive matches at Crystal Palace since the streak of three wins from October 2013 to August 2015, and also increased the unbeaten streak in London derbies in the Premier League to 13 matches - 11 wins and two draws.
Arsenal also became the third team to reach 200 away matches with a clean sheet in the Premier League, after Man Utd (205) and Chelsea (204). Under Arteta, they kept 28 clean sheets out of 68 away matches in the Premier League, reaching a rate of 41%. This stat is only inferior under Bruce Rioch, when Arsenal white net 8 out of 19 games, with 42%.
Arsenal, Brighton and defending champion Man City are the clubs that maintain a winning record through the opening two rounds of the Premier League. On August 26, "Gunners" returned to the Emirates to receive Fulham.
