Tonight’s game against Crystal Palace was always going to be an interesting affair as it was the first game of the campaign and there were plenty of new faces on display, but it also ended up being an excellent job for us. , as we won 2-0. .
As the dust settles at Selhurst Park, we’ve taken a look at some of the biggest talking points from a rousing start to the season:
A quick start
It took us over five and a half hours to open our Premier League account last season. This year, it only took 20 minutes.
And it was just reward for our quick start to the game. During the first few exchanges we were a hive of activity, swarming around the Palau players, biting into tackles and moving well off the ball.
In the first 25 minutes we had 62 per cent possession, had five shots (two on target) at Crystal Palace. We also had 17 touches in the opposition area compared to just one for Palace.
So we really appreciated the opening goal when it came. Gabriel Martinelli became the first Brazilian to score the opening goal of a Premier League campaign and, in the process, we ended Palace’s nine hour and 52 minute run without conceding at Selhurst Park.
Off and on
As the fixtures were announced in June, this always seemed to be a real test to start the season.
We had won just one of our previous eight Premier League games against Crystal Palace and lost 3-0 here just four months ago.
And we know how difficult it is to start with a London derby away on the first Friday of the season too, as we went down 2-0 to Brentford last year, and from then on we were always playing catch-up.
In fact, this was the fifth time in top-flight history that the season had started on a Friday night, with the home side having won on each of the previous four occasions.
Predictably, the hosts were buoyed by this one too, buoyed by their fans, but by the end of the night, all that could be heard was the traveling fans: “we’re top of the league” at full volume.
The impact of Saliba
We included three debutants in the starting eleven. Summer signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, as well as William Saliba, who has had to wait three years for his first first-team appearance.
The defender was just 18 when he joined from Saint Etienne in 2019, and three successful loan spells since then have only served to heighten the excitement among the France international’s supporters.
And when it came time to finally see it in action, it didn’t disappoint.
He led the way in clearances (seven), won three of four face-offs and won possession seven times (only Thomas Partey had more with eight).
What was really impressive was his pass contest percentage. William completed 46 of 49 passes (94%), more than anyone else on the team.
It was a real Rolls Royce of a performance, earning him the Sky Sports Man of the Match award and more importantly helping us to our first Premier League goal for 10 games.
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