Arsenal claimed their first points of the new Premier League season this afternoon courtesy of a 2-1 victory over London rivals Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

The Gunners broke the deadlock courtesy of an acrobatic Olivier Giroud volley, but Joel Ward drilled the equaliser home shortly before the half-hour mark.

The winning goal arrived 10 minutes into the second half as Damien Delaney turned an Alexis Sanchez header into his own net when attempting to clear the ball.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at whether the Gunners were worthy victors on the day.

Match statistics

CRYSTAL PALACE
Shots: 11
On target: 4
Possession: 41%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 14

ARSENAL
Shots: 20
On target: 7
Possession: 59%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 12

Was the result fair?

It was a very good, entertaining tussle for the most part, but overall Arsenal were the better side and deserve all three points. The Gunners created the better chances and, as the statistics above show, enjoyed the majority of possession. Palace were always eager to get on the front foot and attack the Gunners, which made for a good spectacle, but that played into the hands of Arsene Wenger's side, who relished the open nature of the match at times.

Petr Cech in the Arsenal goal had a much quieter day than his ill-fated debut a week ago, and there was nothing he could have done about Ward's strike in the first half. Palace often looked dangerous coming forward, but in reality they rarely threatened to drag themselves back into the match for a second time. That said, Connor Wickham did hit the post with the scores level at 1-1, and had that one gone in then it could have been a very different story.

There was a touch of luck about the winning goal for the Gunners, but they created enough chances to win the game anyway. Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all had opportunities throughout the course of the 90 minutes, and had the Gunners not emerged victorious then they would have only had themselves to blame. As it was, though, they picked up an important three points after last week's false start, and this should provide a good platform for them to build off.

Crystal Palace's performance

The Eagles were somewhat fortunate to beat Norwich City on the opening day of the season, but the likelihood of getting away with points against the big boys is much slimmer. It wasn't a bad performance from Alan Pardew's side, but once again they were short of their best, particularly in the final third. Aside from hitting the post, Wickham was barely involved, while the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie failed to reach the heights of which they are capable.

Defensively they were solid, though, and there wasn't much they could do about either goal. Giroud's finish was a fine piece of improvisation from the French striker, and credit must go to him for that, while Delaney was unfortunate with what will surely go down as an own goal. The centre-back tried desperately to clear Sanchez's header away, but only succeeded in firing the ball into the back of his own net.

Both goals stemmed from crosses into the box, which won't please Pardew considering he has a big, robust defensive line meant to deal with those dangers. However, while he comes away from the match without any points, there are positives for him to take from today. They ran Arsenal - considered by many to be genuine title candidates - all the way to the wire and, on another day, could have got something from the match.

Arsenal's performance

If the pre-season optimism fell flat on its face with last week's false start against West Ham United, today the Gunners picked themselves back up and took the first step towards an expected title challenge. The performance was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a vast improvement on their display against the Hammers and there were plenty of reasons for optimism from an Arsenal perspective.

The flow of the game helped the Gunners, with Palace always eager to attack and, as a result, leaving plenty of space in their own half for Arsenal to exploit. They dominated possession, as is often the case, but also managed to carry a big threat on the counter-attack. Palace's philosophy allowed Wenger's side to move the ball up the field quickly on the break, and they almost undid Palace on a few occasions via that route.

There were a couple of elements of luck to Arsenal's performance. As mentioned, the winning goal had no small element of fortune, while Wickham's strike that hit the post could have changed the game had it been a couple of inches the other way. Francis Coquelin was also a little fortunate not to be shown a second yellow card following a couple of risky challenges after he had already been booked. Overall, though, it was a good way to bounce back from the disappointment a week ago, and Arsenal certainly warranted the victory.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Mesut Ozil: Are we finally starting to see the best of Mesut Ozil? The German orchestrated things for Arsenal in attack this afternoon, playing some silky passes during a classy display. He got the assist for the opening goal and could have had one or two more had his teammates been more clinical in front of goal.

Biggest gaffe

As mentioned, Delaney was unfortunate with his own goal, but that is the only real candidate for his dubious honour today. The defender reacted as quickly as he could in his attempt to clear the danger, but it just wasn't fast enough.

Referee performance

Lee Mason had a good game in the middle today, but there were questions over whether he should have sent Coquelin off. There was one challenge in particular when, had he not already been booked, he would have certainly been cautioned. However, the official applied common sense and the foul was not bad enough to warrant a second yellow so, while Palace may feel aggrieved, it is easy to see why he didn't produce the red card.

What next?

Crystal Palace: Next up for Palace is another home tie against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Arsenal: Arsenal, meanwhile, face Liverpool at the Emirates next Monday night.