Despite many difficulties, Mikel Arteta’s army still won all 3 points against Palace.

Here are 5 highlights from the match:

Saka’s Sadness

Bukayo Saka is one of Arsenal’s prestigious penalty kicks. However, in the context of the British star having some problems when standing in front of the 11-meter mark, the opportunity was given to captain Martin Odegaard.

After Eddie Nketiah brought back the 11-meter penalty, the Norwegian star launched a confident shot to help the Gunners break the deadlock.

The question now is whether no longer taking on the responsibility of taking the penalty kick Saka will play more comfortably or conversely, the 21-year-old will no longer retain his usual confidence.

Tomiyasu made Arteta a headache

The referees in the Premier League this season proved to be quite strict with the behavior of reacting or buying time and Takehiro Tomiyasu had to taste it with a yellow card in the 60th minute.

Just 7 minutes later, the referee pulled out another yellow card to send him off after a foul on Ayew.

This is the first game Arsenal have been sent off in the Premier League since the end of the 2021-22 season, when Rob Holding received a red card in the North London Derby. In the context of Tomiyasu’s suspension, Arsenal have only one possible option at left-back – Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Blockbuster value

Mikel Arteta has placed Declan Rice in the exact position left by Granite Xhaka. And the signing from West Ham did not disappoint the Gunners captain.

Rice showed his great ability to hold the ball and he also retreated to a reasonable cover to help Arsenal reduce the risk of counterattacks.

Statistics from Whoscored show that Rice has a 90% pass accuracy rate, touches the ball 68 times and contributes 1 decisive pass. He also had 2 successful interceptions and 1 rescue clearance.

After a period of adaptation, the star of the Three Lions is gradually integrating into the new environment.

Super sub

Fans were curious about how Mikel Arteta would use those in the defense with Jurrien Timber injured and Gabriel Magalhaes also left out of the starting lineup in the opening match.

However, Arteta only made a change when he put Tomiyasu in Timber’s place and continued to leave Gabriel on the bench.

The Spanish captain had his own reasons. Obviously, the absence of the Brazilian midfielder does not affect the defense situation much, when the duo William Saliba and Ben White still play well.

But possessing a quality backup plan like Gabriel helped Arsenal overcome difficulties, especially in the 30 minutes they played without people.

Two opposite sides

Eddie Nketiah did the right thing as a number 9 when he got smart situations to penetrate the penalty area, causing problems for the Palace defense. He was the one who created the premise for Odegaard to score on the 11-meter mark.

But on the contrary, No. 14 Gunners still proved to be less charming in taking advantage of opportunities. In the last game, Nketiah may have put his name on the scoreboard after receiving a clear pass from Rice, but at close range he sent the ball over the crossbar.