On the opening night of the 2022/23 Premier League season, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal rode the second half storm at Selhurst Park as Bukayo Saka’s cross in was guided into his own net by Marc Guehi in the 85th minute, adding to Gabriel Martinelli’s 20th minute header.
William the Conqueror
Returning from a three-year loan spell at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille, centre-back William Saliba was given the Premier League man of the match award on his debut.
Regarding the Frenchman, post-match, Gunners’ boss Mikel Arteta said: “Rightly so [being awarded the man of the match]. I think he was superb tonight.”
On Saliba’s physicality, Arteta said: “You need the right balance. Physicality in this league is something that you cannot come short in, and if you do, you’re going to be exposed and you won’t be able to deal with certain games and certain opponents that demand so much of that aspect.”
Saliba won 100% of his aerial duels, completed 46 passes, made seven clearances as well as one vital block in the first half.
Looking back on his debut, Saliba said: “It was hard, but we are happy to win today. We were strong and solid. It’s a long time I have been working for this [debut] moment. I’m so happy to start my first game with a win and a clean sheet.”
Half century for Arteta
The win marked Arteta’s 50th league win after just 98 games in charge of Arsenal however, the Spaniard believed his side could’ve had more.
“We should’ve scored another one or two,” said Arteta.
“We missed some chances. [If] you want to win here, you are going to have to dig in. We had to play in moments the game we didn’t want to play. They put four very physical players in your last line that has the ability to turn your press all the time, and from there you have to manage the game which is not easy to do.
“We started really sharp, and this is the game that we wanted to play but for longer periods, especially in the second-half. To win here [at Selhurst Park], you need to suffer. We did it and that’s part of the mentality we want to build – to come to these places and find a way to win it at the end, and we did it today.”
Arteta also confirmed Martinelli’s goal was something that his side had worked on in training, with the set-piece coach the one that created the routine.
A helping hand from Ramsdale
The former Manchester City assistant was also full of praise for his goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and was pleased with the clean sheet.
Arteta said: “That is the resilience we need to win football matches and to see football matches through. We had some moments when you need your goalkeeper and to be honest, they had the best chance in the game, the 1v1, and Aaron did incredibly well, and he won the game for us. "
The Eagles still await take off
For Palace, it’s a disappointing start to the campaign, and the fixtures don’t come any easier with Liverpool at Anfield next for Patrick Vieira’s side.
On what settled the game, Vieira said: “I think the difference between the two teams is that they score those goals and we created two really good chances to score, and we were in a really good position in the second half, but we didn’t take them chances. They took their chances, and we didn’t.
“Football is about trying to score goals. We played against a good side. We had great chances in both halves, and we didn’t take it. It’s really difficult to control a game when you play against a team that has so much quality technically."
Palace’s pre-season tour of Singapore and Australia consisted of just 10 first team players, with a number of Vieira’s men left out due to vaccination status and injuries however, the French boss was happy with his players’ fitness levels.
Vieira said: “I was really pleased physically. We worked hard until the end. You have to run lots against these kinds of teams.”