Rambo First Blood

Aaron Ramsey proved to be Arsenal's hero once again as his late strike guided the Gunners to their first points of the season with a 2-1 win over managerless Crystal Palace.

It was hard to believe this was the same starting XI who had comfortably beaten Manchester City 3-0 with a fine performance to lift the Community Shield just a week before. It was a far from convincing performance from the home side but it is often said that it is a sign of a top side when they are still able to win games even when not at their best.

Despite the far from convincing performance, Wenger guided his side to the all-important three points and that's what matters most. There were also some positives on show at the Emirates as Arsenal dominated possession, with Laurent Koscielny and new-boy Calum Chambers, who was playing in the absence of World Cup winner Per Mertesacker, keeping things tight at the back. Fellow new-signing Alexis Sanchez also impressed on his league debut, but Gunners' fans will be expecting a lot more from the Chilean as he tries to prove his worth at the Emirates.

Palace deserve huge credit for limiting the hosts for so long, especially with caretaker boss Keith Millen having less than 48 hours to prepare for the match following the shock departure of Tony Pulis. Palace fans and neutrals alike are still shocked by the departure of Pulis - going from manager of the year to not being in the dugout for the start of the new Premier League season really does beggar belief. It made preparation harder for Palace, while it was hard to gauge whether or not it would make the game easier for Arsenal. Personally, I thought it would make the game trickier and Palace seemed up for the task.

With last season's opening-day defeat to Aston Villa fresh in the minds of many fans, there was a feeling of 'oh no, not again' when debutant Brede Hangeland headed the Eagles in front after 35 minutes.

Although Arsenal had dominated possession before the visitors surprise opener, Arsene Wenger's men hadn't created too many clear-cut chances. So it came as a huge relief when Arsenal levelled matters just 10 minutes later as Koscielny headed home from Sanchez's free-kick.

The Gunners looked destined to have to settle for a draw but were given further hope of a better result when the visitors were reduced to 10 men as Jason Puncheon was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

Wenger's men took advantage of the extra man as Ramsey scored his second goal in as many games with a simple tap in after Julian Speroni could only parry the initial effort from new signing Mathieu Debuchy. The stoppage-time strike came as huge relief from the Gunners in a game that, at times, they didn't look like winning and Wenger's men know they will have to up their game next week with trips to Besiktas and Everton on the horizon. But whatever fans thought of the performance, the Gunners still won the game and were the only home side to collect all three points on the opening Saturday of the 2014/15 Premier League campaign.

It is hard to think too much into the performance against Palace as it usually takes a few games for teams to hit the ground running. Wenger's men were only seven points behind champions Manchester City at the end of last season and, if the Gunners can improve their displays against their fellow title challengers, maybe it can be different this time around. But there is a hell of a long way to go and the most important thing is that Arsenal maintain a high level of consistency this season without having daft spells of madness.

If we can match the performance of the Community Shield win over Manchester City again we will definitely be a force to be reckoned with, but we certainly need to create more chances. With World Cup winning trio Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil to return in the near future and Theo Walcott not too far of his injury comeback, the future is looking bright for Arsenal. But whether we have a chance of adding the Premier League title to the 2014 FA Cup and Community Shield is another story. We certainly have the potential to do so, but Chelsea and Manchester City are the clear favourites so we will have to take points off them to stand a chance!

One thing is for sure though, it will be an exciting title race!

COME ON YOU GUNNERS!