Matokeo: Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal

For Wenger, all that mattered was the result. He replaced Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez with Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta. He also hauled off Francis Coquelin before he was sent off.

Sanchez and Ozil trudged away unhappily, and it seemed significant that Wenger was ready to sacrifice his two most gifted players as the clock ticked down.

It was a clue to the importance of this result in the context of Arsenal’s season. Last year, a bad start ruled them out of the title race before it had begun. This year had to be different.

Hence Per Merstesacker’s ungainly knee-slide and plea at the feet of referee Lee Mason, who had wrongly awarded Palace a corner in a tense closing spell.

Arsenal remain vulnerable from set-pieces and they know it. As it turned out, Jordan Mutch nodded it over. Then Petr Cech saved from Ward from another corner, before the final whistle brought Wenger relief.

Arsenal can be congratulated on their resilience and their response having stewed for a week on the West Ham defeat.

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Giroud's acrobatic shot landed in the back of the net after Delaney failed to block his goalbound effort from flying past McCarthy

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France international Giroud raced to the touchline to celebrate with fellow countryman Mathieu Debuchy after putting his side in the lead

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Arsenal striker Giroud is all smiles after putting his side in the lead by scoring his first goal of the season, while Wilfried Zaha looks on

Sanchez, restored to the team after an extended summer break, added energy and threat and was central to the Delaney own goal, early into the second half.

The Chilean almost struck after just seven minutes, when the visitors broke with clinical precision. Coquelin and Santi Cazorla combined to find Ozil and he slid Sanchez in on goal.

It was a breath-taking counter-attack but Palace’s recovery defending was equally impressive.

Ward sprinted and slid to block the first effort and then James McArthur was back on his own goal-line to clear when the rebound presented Sanchez with another chance.

Even so, Arsenal were soon ahead when Giroud converted an Ozil cross in spectacular style.

The centre-forward dropped into a pocket of space, adjusted his feet as the ball came his way, took off, twisted in mid-air and hooked the ball past Alex McCarthy with his left boot.

Thierry Henry would have been proud. It was Giroud’s first goal in the Barclays Premier League since early April and his first since Henry claimed Wenger’s team would never with the title with him up front.

Ozil’s early delivery was precisely the type of service on which he thrives, and the German playmaker was alert and hugely influential.