Arsenal hosted Palace in what would be a tough test for a new-look Gunners side on the opening day of the new Premier League season, and it wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination.
Despite dominating for the most part of the match, Arsenal found themselves a goal down thanks to a power header from former Fulham defender Brede Hangeland who took advantage of being unmarked to power into the roof of the net.
Arsenal got back in the game and scored on the stroke of half-time after Koscielny did well to latch onto a header from Sanchez's delivery into the area and despite a tense second-half, The Gunners made it 2-1 in the last few minutes thanks to a rebounded effort from Aaron Ramsey after Speroni parried away in a goalmouth scramble.
Here are the player ratings for today's match:
Arsenal:
Szczesny - 5/10. A decent match for the Arsenal goalkeeper, despite partially being at fault for the first goal, he did not have much to do otherwise; although he looked encouraging at the back many times to help spot the danger and raise his team-mates' awareness towards the late stages.
Debuchy - 7/10. Another encouraging performance from the new signing, Mathieu did well to get forward on the counter attack and tracked back well to shut out Palace's probing on the flanks.
Chambers - 7/10. Despite being young and fairly inexperienced, Chambers had a solid display again and showed he can adapt to any position - slotting in perfectly alongside Koscielny at centre-back. One for the future.
Koscielny - 8/10. Man of the Match. Koscielny had another impressive performance at centre-back for Arsenal, and made up for his sloppy man-marking of Hangeland to score the equaliser just before half-time. A tough-tackling, hard-hitting defender, he did not shy away from tackles and put Arsenal supporters on edge, but timed it well.
Gibbs - 6/10. A decent showing from Gibbs, who did well to avoid making any mistakes and stopped Puncheon from running at him on the wing before he was substituted after half-time, to avoid further injury for a hamstring problem he had.
Arteta - 5/10. Did his job when he was on the ball, but didn't get involved in play very much.
Wilshere - 6/10. His energetic runs in midfield helped to create space for his team-mates to run into, but apart from that he created little and was unable to find a final through ball to unlock the Palace defence.
Ramsey - 7/10. Did well in midfield to create chances out of nothing, passed the ball well and scored late on with a composed head to give Arsenal all 3 points at home.
Cazorla - 5/10. Despite his clear attacking flair, Santi struggled for the most part of the match today. His ball retention was poor, Palace defenders out-muscled him when he went on the run and his brilliant turns were too in-frequent. The highlight of his match was getting sprayed by the referee with vanishing spray, which says it all really.
Sanogo - 4/10. The young French striker tried his best, but he was unable to get past the Palace defence and everything went wrong for him in truth. Looked sloppy and couldn't influence the game, before being replaced.
Alexis - 6/10. The £30million pound man announced himself upon the Premier League with an assist on his debut appearance, and could have had a goal aswell! His quick feet and magical touches got the crowd roaring at The Emirates, but his crosses into the area were inconsistent and he'll be hoping for better to come.
Subs:
Monreal - 6/10. A solid 45 minutes or so for the Spanish left-back, who replaced Gibbs and did a good job of that.
Oxlade-Chamberlain - 6/10. Disappointing that he was not able to start, but as soon as The Ox got on the field of play, Arsenal started more counter attacks and looked for him on the flank - where he was his most dangerous.
Giroud - 6/10. An average performance from Giroud, who was unable to rubber-stamp his ability on the game but came close to scoring on two occasions in the minutes that he was on the field.
Crystal Palace:
Speroni - 6/10. The Palace goalkeeper was unlucky to have conceded both goals, late on in each half and did his part for the team to make a few solid saves - average but nothing special.
Kelly - 7/10. One of the team's standout performers on his first appearance for his new club, after his £1.5million pound move from Liverpool. Worked tirelessly across the pitch and did his best to stop the advances of Alexis.
Ward and Dann - 6/10. Both were solid at the back, but unable to keep out the two goals conceded in the end.
Hangeland - 7/10. Scored the opening goal and was a pest to attack against, but ended up losing out to Koscielny, who ended up scoring. A decent showing nonetheless.
Jedinak - 7/10. The steel of midfield for Palace, their best player on the day; did his best and worked hard to stop Arsenal from getting forward on the counter attack.
Puncheon - 4/10. Tracked back well and worked hard off the ball but did not get forward and made clumsy challenges - with a few minutes to go, conceded a needless foul and got sent off for a second yellow card, which he'll be wishing he hadn't done.
Bolasie - 6/10. His pace and quick feet were swiftly dealt with by the Arsenal full-backs as he was not given as much time or space on the ball as he was when these two teams last met at The Emirates, although he did cause a few problems occasionally.
Ledley - 6/10. Him and Jedinak were hard to attack against, and protected the back-line when Arsenal were on the counter attack.
Chamakh - 5/10. He ran around the pitch and was a nuisance for his former club, trying to force them into making mistakes and got a yellow card for his troubles after making 10 fouls. Yes, 10.
Campbell - 5/10. His pace was not enough as his team-mates were unable to find him and he did not see a lot of the ball before he was consequently substituted.
Subs:
Delaney, Gayle and O'Keefe - N/A. All 3 of Palace's substitutes came on rather late, with hints suggesting that they were a time-wasting ploy by the away side to try and hold on. Almost worked aswell.