Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta hailed the “decisive” contribution of Martin Odegaard after the captain fired his side to a 1-0 win in their Champions League opener at Napoli.
The Gunners, who are aiming to go one better than last season’s final defeat this time around, looked like they would be frustrated by missed chances in Naples.
But Odegaard continued his brilliant start to the campaign by coming up with the goods 15 minutes from time to give his side a winning start in the league phase, firing in off a post from the edge of the area.
“We missed so many big chances”
Mikel Arteta shares his thoughts after Arsenal’s victory over Napoli 💭
🎙️ @DannyJamieson | 📺 Watch live on TNT Sports & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/zT2bHcPoiH
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) September 9, 2026
It was his fourth goal in four games this season, including the Community Shield, as he looks to take his game to the next level.
“Certainly Martin is contributing with goals that are impacting results which is what we want from our attacking players, being decisive and certainly he was again today,” Arteta told TNT Sports.
Odegaard rescued his side, but it should have been a much more routine victory had Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke not all missed sitters.
Merino, Saka and Hincapie all missed from within 10 yards while Madueke was denied after racing through on goal.
One-nil to Arsenal is a famous scoreline but Arteta knows this one should have been a much bigger win.
“Fully deserved three points,” he added. “The performance probably doesn’t reflect the result, the team was superb.
“We showed quality in a lot of moments to break them down and it was a shame because we missed so many great chances.
“We have to keep generating more, it’s great that so many players got into those situations and on any other day the result would be different.
“We should have done it in a different way because of the amount of chances we created.”
Share