Following Takehiro Tomiyasu’s dismissal for two yellow cards in their Premier League match at Selhurst Park on Monday, Crystal Palace finished the game with 10 men. Martin Odegaard, the captain of Arsenal, converted a penalty to give Arsenal a 1-0 victory.
The greatest opportunity of the first half hour belonged to Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal, who struck the post in the 29th minute after some strong midfield pushing led to the Gunners winning the ball high up the field.
In the 36th minute, after Declan Rice had played Nketiah in behind the defense, he fluffed a chip attempt that harmlessly crossed the crossbar.
Early in the second half, when the striker raced on to a fast free kick by Gabriel Martinelli, he was brought down in the box by goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Odegaard sent Johnstone the wrong way by sliding the ball in at the base of the keeper’s right-hand post after referee David Coote signaled to the spot.
Arsenal appeared to be cruising to win, but Tomiyasu was sent off in the 67th minute after picking up two bookings for a tackle on Jordan Ayew and time-wasting at a throw-in on the hour mark.
The only time the home team came close to scoring an equalizer was a stoppage-time snap effort by fullback Tyrick Mitchell that sailed wide. Arteta promptly made a number of defensive alterations that caused problems for Palace.
With the victory, Arsenal moved up to third place, six points behind Manchester City and Brighton & Hove Albion on goal differential. From their first two games, Palace has three points.
The player evaluations from Selhurst Park are displayed in the photo gallery above. Click the arrows to advance to the next image, or swipe on a mobile device.
