Arsenal sink Palace to extend perfect start

London, Aug. 23: Arsenal shrugged off Takehiro Tomiyasu's red card to extend their perfect start to the Premier League season as Martin Odegaard sealed a 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace on Monday.

Odegaard's second-half penalty at Selhurst Park put Arsenal on course for their second successive win.

But Mikel Arteta's side had to dig deep to preserve the points after Japan defender Tomiyasu was controversially sent off for a second yellow card midway through the second half.

Tomiyasu had been booked for taking too long over a throw-in before his dismissal for making minimal contact on Jordan Ayew.

Arteta was delighted with the way Arsenal refused to surrender their lead as they moved up to third place, behind leaders Brighton and second-placed Manchester City on goal difference.

"Great win. I'm so happy. To play 30 minutes away from home with 10 men is extremely difficult," Arteta said.

"Some players were suffering physically. The subs were magnificent, they knew what they had to do. 

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

Frustrated by Tomiyasu's first booking for time-wasting, Arteta added: "This is the standard. I think it was eight seconds. We might have to play with a stop watch."

Pulisic help AC Milan win

United States standout Christian Pulisic began his AC Milan career in impressive style by scoring one goal and setting up another as Bologna was beaten 2-0 on Monday in their opening match of Serie A.

Pulisic, who joined Milan last month, had a hand in Olivier Giroud's opener and his former Chelsea teammate returned the favor in the 21st minute.

"It was a fantastic start for sure," Pulisic said. "I'm really excited to be a part of this team. The two early goals really helped us because it was a difficult game after that. And for me just a great start personally as well, nice to get a goal."

Pulisic is one of several new Rossoneri faces. Milan was the busiest Serie A club in the offseason, bringing in six new players and he said the presence of former teammates played a part in his decision to join the storied Italian club.

Sevilla lose 

Sevilla couldn't end its early struggles, losing at promoted Alaves 4-3 for its second consecutive loss to start the Spanish league on Monday.

Sevilla also lost to Manchester City on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup final last week and was looking to turn things around against an opponent it hadn't lost to in nine straight league games.

But a pair of goals by Kike García five minutes apart midway through the second half secured Alaves the victory. Back in the first division after a year in the second tier, Alaves also scored through Luis Rioja and Rubén Duarte in the first half.

Sevilla got on the board before halftime with an own-goal by Abdel Abqar and with Erik Lamela. Rafa Mir added the third deep into second-half stoppage time.

Late Monday, Rayo Vallecano won at promoted Granada 2-0 to become one of the three teams to start with consecutive victories, along with Real Madrid and Valencia. (AFP)