Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal: Gunners start with win at Selhurst Park

Arsenal started the new Premier League season well with a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

New signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko made their debuts for Mikel Arteta's side on Friday and both made an impact, with Jesus catching the eye and Zinchenko providing the assist for the game's opening goal.< /p>

Gabriel Martinelli was the beneficiary, heading from close range, with Arsenal adding a late second in the closing stages when Bukayo Saka's cross was deflected into his own net by Marc Guehi.

Palace had chances to equalize in the interval, forcing Aaron Ramsdale to make some solid saves, but he and Arsenal held on to earn their first three points of the new campaign.

Jesus immediately showed what he will bring to Arsenal by dancing through the Palace defense before seeing his shot deflected in the direction of Martinelli, who missed the target unnecessarily.

Martinelli scored his goal quickly, however, as Saka's deep corner kick was headed in on goal by Zinchenko for the striker to acquiesce.

Early chances were rare for Palace, but a golden chance fell on Odsonne Edouard before half-time and his header drew a solid save from Ramsdale on his right.

Ramsdale was again called into action at the start of the second half, with Wilfried Zaha feeding Eberechi Eze, who aimed his finish too close to the England keeper.

Arsenal invited pressure in the closing stages, but Palace could not capitalize and saw their hopes of salvaging a result unwittingly dashed by Guehi.

What does this mean? Arteta's style is clear in the opening win

Arteta's new signings have shown exactly what their manager expects from his side, setting the tempo - Jesus has led all the Gunners in hard-fought duels (21) - having clearly settled in quickly following their transfers since Manchester City.

Arsenal are far from the finished product, however, failing to fully capitalize on their first-half dominance and inviting pressure from Palace, Ramsdale needed to be called on to hold the lead.

Martinelli the link man

Martinelli didn't let that glaring error affect his game and scored a vital goal, but he also played a key role in tying the game up for Arsenal.

The Brazilian international was successful on 23 of his 25 pass attempts, picking a team-mate 10 times in the final third.

Overjoy Odegaard

Despite pulling the strings as expected, new Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard too often looked for the extra pass when he had goal sight.

And unlike Martinelli, Odegaard hasn't been accurate in finding the Gunners' pink shirts in these situations, completing just 64% of his final passes.

Key facts about Opta

– Arteta has won 50 league games as Arsenal manager after 98 games in charge, making him the second fastest manager to reach 50 top level wins for the Gunners after Arsene Wenger (94th game ).– Palace lost a Premier League game at Selhurst Park by two or more goals for only the second time under Patrick Vieira, the other example being a 3-1 loss to Liverpool in January this year.– Granit Xhaka Arsenal received a yellow card for the 53rd time in the Premier League, the competition's greatest ever player since making his debut in 2016-17, with Oriol Romeu.– Martinelli's opener for Arsenal marked the first time that the first goal of a Premier League campaign has been scored by a Brazilian, and the fourth time the opener has been scored by a South American, after Faustino Asprilla in 1997-98 (Colombia), Carl Cort in 1999- 2000 (Guyana) and Luis Suarez in 2011-12 (Uruguay).– The goal against Guehi's side was the 61st Arsenal have benefited in the Premier League, and he is third of all teams behind Manchester United (72) and Liverpool (66).

What's next?

Arsenal take on Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League next Saturday, while Crystal Palace travel to Anfield the following Monday.