Arsenal’s quest for Premier League glory got off to a winning start as Riccardo Calafiori’s goal beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday, while world champions Chelsea were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace.
After finishing second for the past three seasons, the pressure is on Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to deliver the club’s first league title since 2003-04.
The Gunners were far from impressive at Old Trafford but earned a huge three points thanks to a glaring error from United’s stand-in goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
The Turkish international flapped at Declan Rice’s corner on 13 minutes, presenting Calafiori with the simple task of heading into an empty net.
United gave debuts to all their new £200 million ($271 million) attacking trident of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, but could not find a way past the Premier League’s best defence for the past two seasons.
Patrick Dorgu came closest to an equaliser when the Dane smashed against the post from long range. `
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It was a tale of the two goalkeepers as Arsenal stopper David Raya also produced fine saves to deny Cunha and Mbeumo a perfect start to their United careers.
Chelsea survived an early scare when Crystal Palace had an Eberechi Eze goal controversially disallowed in a scrappy 0-0 draw in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea, whose last competitive outing was winning the Club World Cup last month, failed to stamp their authority on the game against the FA Cup holders in warm southwest London sunshine.
The visitors looked to have taken the lead in the 13th minute, but referee Darren England consulted the pitch side monitor and ruled Palace captain Marc Guehi, who shoved Moises Caicedo out of the way, was too close to Chelsea’s defensive wall when Eze took a free kick on the edge of the area.
Chelsea, who finished fourth last season and won the Conference League, gave starts to some of their recent youthful signings including Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens, but it was 18-year-old Brazilian substitute Estevao who made the most impact, with a lively performance down the right wing.
After a truncated pre-season following victory in the Club World Cup, everything pointed to a Chelsea side lacking both preparation and rest as Oliver Glasner’s team coped relative easily with a new-look yet disjointed attack.
Eberechi Eze started for Palace despite speculation he is about to leave and, if there were doubts about how supporters felt about the player whose goal won them the FA Cup in May, they were dispelled when he was substituted to a standing ovation late on.
The England international provided the game with its only major talking point, lashing in a brilliant free kick in the first half that was ruled out after Marc Guehi obstructed Chelsea’s wall, drawing a furious response from Palace fans.
In another EPL cracker, Nottingham Forest start season with strong win Brentford.
It ended 3-1 at the City Ground, Nottingham Forest off and running at the same speed with which they played for much of last season. Two goals for Chris Wood and an excellent start for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men against Brentford.
With Agency reports
