Arsenal received high praise for their performance against Crystal Palace on Friday night, a game where the Gunners came out 2–0 winners.
Agbonlahor he said up talkSPORT: “Arsenal showed me the best 45 minutes of football this season, of all the games we’ve seen. Last night and today.
“They were incredible. Gabriel Jesus was so sharp, [Oleksandr] Zinchenko on the ball. Arsenal were playing like Barcelona in 2011. Yes or no?’
👏 “Arsenal gave me the best 45 minutes of the season so far.”
🔥 “They were incredible. It was like Pep’s Barcelona from 2011!”
Gabby Agbonlahor was a big fan of what he saw from Arsenal last night pic.twitter.com/RCb5NZoOtl
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) August 6, 2022
Co-presenter of former England international, ex Tottenham Hotspur Midfielder Jamie O’Hara, perhaps unsurprisingly, disagreed Agbonlahorhis claim.
O’Hara replied: “You didn’t watch Tottenham in the second half?’ In which Agbonlahor he responded with, “They played against like… [you had] The center midfielder scoring own goals with which he could have taken a touch and run out.”
During their match against Palace, Arsenal showed what they are capable of as they produced a dynamic first half against Patrick Vieira’s side.
At the forefront of the positive performance were new signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Brazilian striker Jesus looked sharp from the start, although he didn’t score, he helped the Gunners take all three points.
Gabriel Martinelli put the visitors ahead after 20 minutes, in the second half, Palace had a few chances to equalize but failed to take any. Eventually, Arsenal forced a second in the 85th minute Bukayo Saka’s cross was pushed into his own net by Mark Guehi.
First game. First win. ✊
COME ON PANTS! ❤️
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 5, 2022
After the game, Mikel Arteta talked about his team’s performance.
He said Sky Sports: “I’m very happy to win, get the three points and a clean sheet against a very difficult opponent in a difficult place where they really put their world into it.”
“As we expected we would have difficult periods during the match, but we showed great resilience to overcome them.”
“If you want to win here, you have to DIG!” 😤
Mikel Arteta on Arsenal’s opening win over Crystal Palace. pic.twitter.com/KF8lkOv3V5
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 5, 2022
Arteta he added: “You need the right balance because if you’re not physically fit in this game, you’re going to be exposed. Having players at the back of the right size is very important in these types of matches. That’s the stamina we need to win football games and catch them.”
“Aaron Ramsdale he did incredibly well from the one on one and won the game for us.”
Arteta will look to continue their good start to the season when they welcome Leicester City to the Emirates next weekend.