The Gunners won 1-0 thanks to Ebere Eze's strike as they went four points clear at the top of the table.
Afterwards, Arteta said: “I'm really happy with this one.
“I just said to the boys that it was probably the biggest victory that we had this season - the way I was feeling it today, it was about making another step.
“We’d played three teams that last season we lost points against and Palace was another one, and they are in a really good moment. I knew we had to be very patient and not get frustrated, because it was very difficult to open them up. They do that to every team, and the moment that you lose certain concentration and get frustrated, they start to open up and they are lethal in counter-attacks, in open spaces and on set pieces.
“So I'm very glad that the team showed that maturity, we found a way to score a brilliant goal through Ebs and keep another clean sheet.
“I think the mindset has been exceptional. The level of aggression that we're playing with, how we insist and how we keep going and going and going, we are ruthless at that. In the end, we're going to get rewarded; we have so much quality. We rely on our habits and when those are really, really high, it makes things very difficult for the opponent.”
On new defensive pair Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie, Arteta was effusive.
He also stated: "When you look at the results, the type of games, the way goals have been scored, how difficult it is to break opponents down and to kill every source that they have to generate chances against you, it makes me really proud.
“For Mosq, big credit for him because he's played, I think, only one year in La Liga, he comes to a new league with huge demands and immediately he's having the impact that he's having.
“It’s great to have Piero on the pitch as well. You could sense immediately his aggression, his commitment in every action that he does. I think the crowd is going to love him."