Arsenal have secured their first win of the 2015-16 Premier League season by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park.
A brilliant scissor-kick effort from Olivier Giroud and an own goal by Damien Delaney were enough for the Gunners to claim three points against the Eagles, who had gone in level at half time thanks to a stunning Joel Ward equaliser.
Victory for the Gunners, who lost at home to West Ham United last weekend, sees them climb out of the relegation zone and move into 11th place in the fledgling table, while Palace stay sixth, although they will drop to seventh if Chelsea win at Manchester City later today.
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Arsenal started the game on the front foot and deservedly went ahead on 16 minutes when Mesut Ozil’s cross found Giroud, who displayed superb athleticism to fire a spectacular volley into the net.
Alexis Sanchez squandered two superb chances to extend Arsenal’s lead, before Ward tied the game on 28 minutes against the run of play with a sweet first-time drive from 25 yards.
Palace were buoyed by their equaliser and they soon made the match a much more even contest.
Connor Wickham struck the post early in the second half, as the home fans began to believe Arsenal were there for the taking.
However, Arsenal went back ahead on 55 minutes. Sanchez sent a well-directed header goalwards, but his effort was intercepted by Delaney, who hammered the ball into his own net.
Although, Sanchez’s effort was on target, Delaney was credited with an own goal.
Palace had another defender behind Delaney on the goal-line, poised to clear the Chilean’s header, which had very little power on it.
Arsenal very nearly made it 3-1 in the dying seconds of the game, but Santi Cazorla’s low snap-shot was well blocked by Palace goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, who also did well to deny Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in stoppage time.
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