Premier League: Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey revels in hard-fought opening day win over Crystal Palace

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey stressed the importance of winning a “difficult” first game of the season against Crystal Palace.

The Gunners needed Ramsey to score a stoppage-time winner at Emirates Stadium after Laurent Koscielny had levelled Brede Hangeland’s first-half opener for the managerless visitors.

“It was very difficult,” the Wales international told Sky Sports’ Saturday Night Football.

“They lost their manager but you’d never have known the way they played. They defended really well and it was tough to break down.

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“But that’s irrelevant now – the result was what we were looking for and we got the three points.

“We’ve found first games difficult over the last few years so it was important to win.”

Sky pundits Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp debated at length the amount of options in Arsenal’s midfield, but suggested Jack Wilshere struggled for the majority of the game.

And Ramsey,  who signed a new long term deal earlier this year, admitted they found it hard to find a way through caretaker boss Keith Millen’s side.

“As we came off at half-time we were having a chat about things in midfield,” Ramsey said.

“We were discussing that we couldn’t find options ahead of us and were taking extra touches, slowing our game down.

“But we improved in the second half and thankfully got the three points we wanted."