William Saliba excelled! You don’t just see debuts like that, said Mikel Arteta. Arsenal’s opening game of the season went well

Start by winning. That was the wish of perhaps every North London supporter. Valuable three points from Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace play their home games, gave coach Mikel Arteta’s charges additional confidence. The youngsters did not disappoint again, with new arrivals Gabriel Jesus and Oleksander Zinchenko from Manchester City proving why the Gunners management brought them in. But the name of William Saliba is the one that is being bandied about the most.

“Kroenke out! Arteta out!” cried Arsenal fans a year ago. Their anger stemmed from the fact that the Gunners lost the opening three meetings of the 2021/22 season.

The Gunners won 2-0 at Crystal Palace and started the new season in the best possible way. “Yes, I’m really happy that we won. Three points, a clean sheet, against a really tough opponent and in a really tough place,” Arteta proclaimed immediately after the game.

Gabriel Martinelli took care of the goals, scoring after a rehearsed signal following a corner kick. Bukayo Saka provided the insurance goal when Marc Guehi scored an own goal after his centre. “But the second goal should have come much earlier. We had a few situations there, but it will come, ” continued the Spanish coach.

The fans were further delighted by the performances of new signings Jesus and Zinchenko. The former Manchester City reigning champions showed why they came to north London. “He was electric, really mobile, really determined and really wanted to hurt the opponent,” Arteta praised the Brazilian.

But the main focus is on young stopper William Saliba. He won the award for best young player in the French Ligue 1 last year and wants to be a stable part of Arteta’s squad this year. On his debut in the most prestigious club competition in the world, he even won the player of the match award.

“You really don’t see that. At 21, he made his Premier League debut against this opponent,” Arteta gushed. Saliba arrived at the Emirates Stadium in 2019 as an 18-year-old. The club’s management sent him on loan first to AS Saint-Étienne, from where he joined Arsenal, and he spent last season at Olympique de Marseille.

The Gunners can therefore be expected to be even better than last year, a fact that was revealed in a pre-match interview by Patrick Vieira, the then captain of The Invincibles in the 2003/04 season and current Crystal Palace manager. And who knows, maybe the Gunners will speak their minds in the battle for top spot.

Source: Arsenal