Mikel Arteta says teams 'might have to play with a stopwatch' after Takehiro Tomiyasu red against Crystal Palace

Mikel Arteta suggested he may have to use “a stopwatch” in future after disputing Takehiro Tomiyasu’s red card in Arsenal's 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Arsenal went ahead on 53 minutes after captain Martin Odegaard scored from the spot, and at that point Arteta’s men looked in control of the game.

However, defender Tomiyasu was sent off for two bookings, the first for taking too long over a throw-in and the second for a foul on Jordan Ayew.

The first booking comes after a warning from referees that they would be stricter this season about perceived transgressions on time-wasting, with managers such as Pep Guardiola worried it would force players to play much more than they are used to.

Talking to Sky Sports, Arteta was relieved to take three points against Palace.

"The celebrations at the end showed how much we wanted it," he said.

"And when you see the players on the bench, the way they want to come here and help the team, they were magnificent and they changed the dynamic of the game. I thank them so much because they really contributed to win the game.

"I was very impressed with the performance. This is what we want, to keep developing. It was really difficult, Palace are really good at frustrating you, at shifting across and being really good in transition. We didn't allow much of that. So we are growing, we are better."

Speaking after the game to the BBC, Arteta also picked out Eddie Nketiah for praise.

He said: "Great win. I'm so happy.

"Eddie was fantastic. We said to be on it and try to take advantage of every moment [with the quick free-kick that led to the penalty].

"To play 30 minutes away from home with 10 men is extremely difficult.

"In moments we had players out of position. Some players were suffering physically."

Discussing the red card, he said: "This is the standards. I don't know how long it was.”

When told the delay from the defender was 23 seconds, he disagreed, saying: “It wasn't. I think it was eight seconds. We might have to play with a stopwatch. It's OK, we won the game, I'm happy.

"Today we had a difficult one, we overcame it and it will make us better."

Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton are the only three teams in the Premier League with two wins from their opening two matches.

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