Arsenal beat Crystal Palace in EPL opener

Arsenal opened the new English Premier League (EPL) season with a goal in each half to seal a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Friday night.

The North London side got immediate reward for their big summer spending following Gabriel Martinelli’s opener and a late own goal.

Arsenal gave starting debut to both Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, their major summer signings from Manchester City, and both players were involved in the Gunners’ best attacks of the first half.

While Jesus created the first chance of the night which was squandered by Martinelli on four minutes, Zinchenko provided the assist for Martinelli to redeem himself with a header from four yards to hand Arsenal a 1-0 lead.

Mikael Arteta’s men continued to dominate but Crystal Palace improved in the closing stages of the first half as Odson Edouard saw his header tipped away by Aaron Ramsdale.

Arsenal held on to their slim advantage at the interval.

Crystal Palace continued to trouble the visitors for a leveler but it was Arsenal that doubled their lead via an own goal on 85 minutes. A swift counter-attack culminated in Bukayo Saka’s shot being diverted into the net by Marc Guehi to seal a 2-0 win.

The win sees Arsenal continue their unbeaten run from pre-season.