The new campaign is underway and the Eagles returned from Sheffield with all three points after seeing off the hosts with relative ease.
MATCH INFORMATION
PLAYER RATINGS
| 1 | Sam JOHNSTONE | 6.8 |
| 2 | Joel WARD | 6.8 |
| 16 | Joachim ANDERSEN | 8.3 |
| 6 | Marc GUEHI (5 James TOMKINS 90+1 mins) | 7.4 (6.0) |
| 3 | Tyrick MITCHELL | 7.1 |
| 8 | Jefferson LERMA | 8.0 |
| 28 | Cheick DOUCOURE | 6.8 |
| 10 | Eberechi EZE | 7.7 |
| 15 | Jeffrey SCHLUPP | 7.4 |
| 9 | Jordan AYEW | 7.3 |
| 22 | Odsonne EDOUARD | 7.9 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 14 Jean-Philippe MATETA, 17 Nathaniel CLYNE, 26 Chris RICHARDS, 29 Naouirou AHAMADA, 31 Remi MATTHEWS, 37 John-Kymani GORDON, 44 Jairo RIEDEWALD, 49 Jesurun RAK-SAKYI
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
| 18 | Wes FODERINGHAM | 7.8 |
| 19 | Jack ROBINSON (25 Anis Ben SLIMANE 80 mins) | 6.1 (5.9) |
| 12 | John EGAN | 6.9 |
| 15 | Anel AHMEDHODZIC | 6.7 |
| 3 | Max LOWE (27 Yasser LAROUCI 80 mins) | 7.1 (6.4) |
| 23 | Ben OSBORN (35 Andre BROOKS 87 mins) | 6.1 (6.0) |
| 16 | Oliver NORWOOD | 6.6 |
| 6 | Chris BASHAM (21 Vinicius SOUZA 80 mins) | 6.7 (6.2) |
| 2 | George BALDOCK | 6.2 |
| 11 | Benie TRAORE (39 Antwoine HACKFORD 87 mins) | 6.0 (6.0) |
| 32 | William OSULA | 5.7 |
UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 1 Adam DAVIES, 5 Auston TRUSTY, 34 Louie MARSH, 38 Femi SERIKI
TEB VERDICT
It is always difficult to know what to expect from the first game of the season even after a relatively successful pre-season, but three points away from home and a clean sheet to boot is really good work. Yes, of course there will be areas to work on but this is what Roy Hodgson would have been hoping for and his players did a solid job. The only real criticsm is that they should have put the ball in the net more than once to make the result a little easier instead of going right to the wire, but that would be harsh. The reality is that this was an impressive performance to start the new campaign, looking assured and comfortable against a newly promoted outfit.
POST GAME QUOTES
ROY HODGSON
“We knew they would make like difficult for us and they wouldn’t take too many chances playing through the midfield, but I thought we dealt with it extremely well. It’s just a bit disappointing not to get that second goal to give ourselves a margin.
“Odsonne has been excellent in pre-season. I don’t think we saw the best of him last season. In the 10 games I had at the end of the season we always thought the quality was there.
“What he’s done for us in pre-season and today, that’s what he’s got. That’s in his locker and it’s really good to see him bringing that out. I hope today’s game, not just the goal but his all-round play, will improve his confidence because if we can get him playing at that level week after week, I think we can be a handful for a lot of teams.”
PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM
“We knew it was going to be tough, we knew we’d be up against it. Palace deserve the win but there’s nothing that scores us in this league, we just know we’ve got to get better from here on in.
“I think we needed to get the first goal and take advantage in that first half, when we were much more competitive. We had moments when we were 1-0 down but never really created much, especially in open play. But I’m proud of the players and proud of the effort.
“We set a record for the number of Under-21 players making their debut in the EFL but I can’t say I want to set the same sort of record in the Premier League. We want and need the injured players back, we want and need reinforcements, and if we get that we’ll keep improving.”
MATCH STATISTICS
| Star Man | Joachim ANDERSEN (8.3) |
| Goals | Odsonne EDOUARD (49) |
| Assists | Jordan AYEW (49) |
| Most shots | Eberechi EZE (8) |
| Most tackles | Max LOWE (7) |
| Most dribbles | Jeffrey SCHLUPP (3) |
| Team rating | 6.39 – 7.28 |
| Total shots | 8 – 24 |
| Shots on target | 1 – 8 |
| Yellow cards | William OSULA (16), Anel AHMEDHODZIC (57), ANis Ben SLIMANE (86) |
| Red cards | None |
| Possession | 32.8% – 67.2% |
| Pass success | 63% – 82% |
| Passes | 259 – 540 |
| Dribbles | 2 – 11 |
| Aerials won | 13 – 28 |
| Tackles | 21 – 21 |
| Fouls | 18 – 11 |
| Corners | 5 – 5 |
| Saves | 7 – 1 |
| Dispossessed | 12 – 18 |
POSITION IN THE TABLE (at the final whistle)
| POS | TEAM | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
| 4 | Arsenal | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 5 | Crystal Palace | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
| 6 | Fulham | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 |
UPCOMING FIXTURES
21/08/2023 Arsenal (h) – Premier League 8pm
26/08/2023 Brentford (a) – Premier League 3pm
29/08/23 Pymouth Argyle (a) – EFL Cup 7.45pm
03/09/23 Wolverhampton Wanderers (h) – Premier League 2pm
