Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli (left) and Crystal Palace’s Jordan Ayew.
| photo: AP
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Last season, five teams in the table wanted to reach the top of the table in the current season. That’s why he strongly strengthened in the summer: he brought in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinenko from Manchester City, young winger Fio Vieira from Porto and American goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Jesus and Zinenko entered the starting line-up, Viera is injured, Turner watched the duel from the bench.
Martinelli made his way through the air after a corner kick, when Zinenko headed him straight. That’s how Mikel Arteta signed his 50th appearance on Arsenal’s bench. He needed 98 consecutive matches to achieve this, only club legend Arsene Wenger (94 matches) managed to reach this goal faster.
On the contrary, the home coach Patrick Vieira first lost to his former club, where he spent the last years of his career in 1996 and 2005. Last season, Crystal Palace drew 2:2 away from home and won 3:0 at home.