PERFECT MART FOR GUNS
0 2 Martinelli gets slick Gunners firing away
THEY kicked off the Premier League season with a statement of intent.
And even the most cynical Arsenal fan surely must be excited by this team.
Mikel Arteta’s men lived up to the expectations and showed they are more entertaining on the pitch than in Amazon’s fly-on-the-wall ‘All Or Nothing’ documentary.
All
Twelve months ago, they left Brentford with Nothing on a Friday night seasonopener, whereas this time they took it All.
Gabriel Martinelli scored the first goal of the campaign and then they had a stroke of luck late on when Bukayo Saka’s cross-shot deflected in off Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.
It was rough on Palace as Arsenal had been hanging on but resilience was just as important because they have made a habit of crumbling under pressure.
This time they dug deep as William Saliba, making his long-overdue debut after a couple of years out on loan, was outstanding and his defensive man-ofthe-match performance typified their determination.
Gabriel Jesus caused all sorts of problems up front, the Brazil forward darted into the box but saw his shot blocked by Guehi and then Martinelli should have netted the rebound but dragged his shot wide.
Saliba was superb all night as he was composed on the ball, has bags of pace and his distribution was first class.
Arteta has partnered him with Gabriel and switched Ben White to right-back.
It was all Arsenal and they went ahead after 20 minutes.
Saka’s corner found Oleksandr Zinchenko unmarked at the back post and the €35m new boy headed back across goal in what looked a well-rehearsed routine.
Beat
Martinelli jumped unchallenged, headed downwards and the ball beat Palace keeper Vicente Guaita.
Arsenal had lift-off and very little to worry about at the other end.
Keeper Aaron Ramsdale made his defenders nervous with some erratic kicking but then redeemed himself with a smart save from Odsonne Edouard’s header.
And if ever there was proof the Premier League was back, it came with a booking for Granit Xhaka.
This one was for a needless and silly dive in the heart of midfield.
Palace upped their game after the restart. Wilfried Zaha played in Eberechi Eze but Ramsdale made a brilliant block.
Arsenal were clinging on and Saliba was terrific as he blocked, tackled and cleared everything.
Arsenal then got the cushion of a second after 85 minutes when Saka cut in from the right, put over a cross and Guehi headed into his own net.
SUBSTITUTES
Mateta 6 for Edouard (58), Milivojevic for Doucoure (75), Ebiowei for Eze, Hughes for Schlupp (86)
Johnson, Ward, Richards, Riedewald, Plange.
SUBSTITUTES
Tierney for Zinchenko, Nketiah for Jesus (83), Lokonga for Odegaard (90)
Turner, Soares, Holding, Elneny, Nelson, Pepe
WILLIAM SALIBA
VICENTE GUAITA
STEVEN Gerrard has told his Aston Villa side to get ruthless — or be dropped.
Last term’s 14th-place finish brassed him off and he is determined there will be no repeat.
Gerrard issued a rallying call to get firing from the off, starting at newly promoted Bournemouth today.
Gerrard said: “We dropped too many silly points last season and there were certain situations where we needed to be more ruthless.
Finish
“We were patchy. To finish 14th is unacceptable for a club like Aston Villa and me.
“We want to be in the top half of the table and we want to give the supporters a good cup run and we’re not going to stray away from that.”