After a nervy finish to Arsenal’s opening game to Nottingham Forest, Mikel Arteta will have been very pleased with how his side closed out the game, writes Adam Perry.

One week on and the Gunners have followed it up with another impressive, gritty performance against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Last season we became accustomed to fluid football, lots of goals and flair from the start, often blowing teams away and scoring an early goal before going on to dominate the game. 

Against Forest and Palace, the chances have not been as free flowing as the changed attacking unit continues to build its chemistry, but Arsenal’s resilience to close out games has been big positive.

Skipper Martin Odegaard gave Arsenal a deserved lead against Palace from the penalty spot, after Eddie Nketiah was unlucky not to put the Gunners ahead in the first half. 

But a seven-minute spell in the second half saw Takehiro Tomiyasu pick up two yellow cards to put Arsenal down to 10 men.

This time, it was a 30-minute hold for Arsenal, who conceded the ball for the majority of play, following the red card, as they held on. 

It is a slight concern how passive they were on the ball due to the lack of an outlet to relieve pressure, but as they did against Forest, Arsenal’s defenders held strong in the box, looking solid in their deep block which has been an evolving feature to close out games under Arteta.

Declan Rice had an excellent game in midfield, controlling the play on and off the ball before Arsenal lost a man, flashing some nice passes, setting up Nketiah for a good chance and sweeping up defensively time and time again.

Nketiah was unlucky not to leave without a goal, hitting the post after some great play to turn Joachim Andersen, before firing over from close range after being slipped in by Rice.

His all-round play caused Palace a lot of problems - winning the penalty - and his constant turns to spin the defence looked Arsenal’s biggest threat throughout.

Arsenal return to the Emirates as they welcome Fulham on Saturday (3pm), as they look to make it three wins from three in the Premier League.