Gabriel Jesus and Wiliam Saliba were excellent, but an Arsenal duo provided cause for concern for Mikel Arteta at Selhurst Park…
Jesus didn’t just thrive – as most of us predicted – but dominated as the main man in the Arsenal attack. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka flanked the new signing, and played well, but seemed superfluous to proceedings, particularly early on, as Jesus drew every eye as he dropped deep, span in behind and dazzled with his dribbling skills.
After just three minutes he illustrated his strength, quick feet and determination as he shrugged off one Crystal Palace player, nutmegged the next and sidestepped a third before Martinelli fluffed the very presentable chance that had been put on a plate for him by his wired new teammate.
Jesus’ ability to travel with the ball may turn out to be the greatest point of difference between life at Arsenal compared to Manchester City. While Pep Guardiola requires his forward players to pass and move to open opposition teams up, this first showing of Jesus under Mikel Arteta suggests the Brazilian will be given a license to make something out of nothing, should he so wish.
But the old, very useful tropes of his time at City, drilled into him over six years by Guardiola, remained evident in Arsenal salmon. His movement out of possession was excellent, and too frequently ignored by his teammates, and his desire to press high and win the ball back probably should have ended in a goal as Martin Odegaard failed to pull the trigger in the box.
Fellow new arrival Oleksandr Zinchenko played in his typical midfielder-at-left-back style, while also fairly regularly literally playing from midfield, narrowing his position at will in a trait he looks set to carry with him from City. He would be better off staying in midfield on this showing.
He had more touches (55) than any player on the pitch in the first half and created the opener with a fine header across the box as a well-worked corner routine saw Martinelli shrug off his earlier miss to score the first goal of the Premier League season. But Arsenal were so on top that the Ukraine international wasn’t troubled defensively.
The second half was a different story, as Jordan Ayew took advantage of Zinchenko’s lack of pace with the ball at his feet and through runs off his shoulder. The new signing looked shellshocked as he was replaced by Kieran Tierney late on. A rethink over Zinchenko’s role may be required when faced with similar pace on…
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