Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal were forced to suffer physically during the club’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, after the Gunners were reduced to 10 men during the second half.
Arsenal maintained their perfect start to the new season with a hard-fought win at Selhurst Park, with Martin Odegaard scoring the winner from the penalty spot after Eddie Nketiah had been brought down inside the box.
The north Londoners were forced to hang on in the closing stages after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s red card however, after the defender was sent off in controversial fashion.
The 24-year-old picked up two bookings inside seven minutes, the first for time-wasting on a throw-in and second for an innocuous coming together with Jordan Ayew.
Arteta was critical of the referee’s decision despite officials being told to clamp down on perceived time-wasting this season, but praised the performance from his team in difficult circumstances.
“Great win. I’m so happy,” Arteta told BBC Sport.
“Eddie (Nketiah) was fantastic. We said to be on it and try to take advantage of every moment [with the quick free-kick that led to the penalty].
“To play 30 minutes away from home with 10 men is extremely difficult. The subs were magnificent, they knew what they had to do.
“In moments we had players out of position. Some players were suffering physically.”
On the red card decision, he added: “This is the standards. I don’t know how long it was. [On being told it was 23 seconds]. It wasn’t. I think it was eight seconds. We might have to play with a stop watch. It’s OK, we won the game, I’m happy.
“Today we had a difficult one, we overcame it and it will make us better.”
