Arsenal's resilience shone as they overcame Takehiro Tomiyasu's dismissal to secure a hard-fought victory against Crystal Palace under the lights on Monday.
Arteta's team had an early chance to surge ahead within minutes, as Kai Havertz located Gabriel Martinelli in acres of space on the left. Although the Brazilian was the scorer in the corresponding fixture last season, this time he hesitated, allowing the chance to fizzle out.
Gradually, Palace gained momentum, with Ebere Eze testing Aaron Ramsdale from long range. Despite this, the opening half-hour remained mostly uneventful. Eddie Nketiah then injected energy into the match, first with an unsuccessful appeal for a penalty and later with a darting run into the box, forcing a shot that struck the post.
As the half-time whistle blew, the scoreline remained level, but an early second-half penalty handed Arsenal the upper hand. Unfortunately, Tomiyasu's quickfire pair of bookings disrupted their rhythm. The defender received his initial yellow for time-wasting and a subsequent one – for a foul on Jordan Ayew – less than 10 minutes apart.
Last season's Premier League runners-up now faced the challenge of holding onto their advantage, and following several tests from the Eagles, the Gunners showed "character" to "pluck out three points".
Declan Rice told Sky Sports after the game: "You look at the clock and there was 20 minutes to go and against a young athletic side it is tough. If you want to be up at the top at the end of the season you have to show character and pluck out three points.
"I think it was a massive relief to get through them 20 minutes, we know what it is like at Selhurst Park and we controlled the game completely until we went down to 10 men - we put our body on the line to get the three points."
On time-wasting, he said: "At the start of the season we have the referee meetings and they explain the new rules. We know if we waste time we will get a yellow card, but the added time can be frustrating at times at the end."
When asked about his role at Arsenal, he replied: "Against Nottingham Forest, we played a diamond and tonight I was the single pivot and dropped back, the last four weeks I have learned so much, I am learning how we play as a team and I am testing myself.
"I am eager to keep learning. I want to keep proving people wrong and playing at the top."