Arteta hails William Saliba after ice-cool debut

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said William Saliba had “proved a point” after impressing in an Arsenal debut that had been three years in the making.

The north London club signed the 21-year-old French defender in 2019, but he had to wait until Friday’s 2-0 win away to Crystal Palace to make his first appearance, having been loaned out to Saint-Étienne, Nice and Marseille in the previous three seasons.

Saliba put in a near-faultless performance against an attacking Palace line-up at Selhurst Park, leading many Arsenal fans to question why he had not been tried earlier.

“Saliba was superb,” Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said. “You don’t really see a debut at 21 years old in the Premier League against physical opponents with that composure, calmness and presence, so credit to the boy. He has now proved a point that he is ready.”

Arteta was encouraged by his team’s resilience against opponents who beat them 3-0 on the same ground in April, a result that severely dented Arsenal’s bid for Champions League qualification. Gabriel Martinelli’s 20th-minute header gave them a deserved lead but it was not until Palace’s Marc Guéhi put through his own goal five minutes from time that victory was assured, with Aaron Ramsdale having to make two key saves either side of half-time.

 “I’m very pleased with a clean sheet and three points against really tough opponents,” Arteta said. “As expected we had tough periods during the match We showed resilience to get through them, and I am really positive.

“You don’t win here without it. We started in a really different way to the way we did last season here. Finding a way to get through these moments is going to be vital for us.

“The way we started the game and played in the first half-hour was superb — we should have scored more. We had to play the game in ways we didn’t want to as it went on because Palace are able to do that to you.

“To win here, you need to suffer. We’ve done it and that’s part of the mentality we want to build, to come to places like this and win.”

The Palace manager, Patrick Vieira, lamented his side’s inability to find the net when they were on top. “The frustration is that we didn’t score that goal in the really important part of the game,” he said. “The first 15 minutes were very difficult but the story of the game is that we did not score the goal to get back into it.

“When we chased we conceded a deflected goal but we had moments when we should have scored.”

Vieira has allowed Christian Benteke to join DC United, managed by Wayne Rooney, in MLS after six seasons at Palace. “Players want to play and when you can’t guarantee them games you have to let them go,” Vieira said. “He was fantastic for this club and we wish him all the best.”