Lisbon, Portugal — Just when weapon Starting to falter, Martin Odegaard produced a match-defining moment of quality. Manager Mikel Arteta will be hoping that can apply to his season as a whole, after a difficult run of results in which his captain’s absence was keenly felt.
Managers bemoaning injuries is nothing new — and can often act as a useful distraction from other problems — but Odegaard’s return from an ankle injury has been accompanied by dramatic fluctuations in his performances, which Continued with an impressive 5-1 demolition of Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday. i UEFA Champions League.
“He’s an incredible player and the day he came back, I had a big smile on my face.” Bukayo Saka Odegaard’s. “You can see the chemistry we have with how much I enjoy playing with him. So I’m happy he’s back and I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.”
Sporting are unbeaten in 19 matches this season and are fresh off a defeat. Manchester City Here at the Estadio Jose Alvalade just three weeks ago, with Victor GiocresKey’s hat-trick confirms his status as one of Europe’s most popular properties. Manager Ruben Amorum has since departed. Manchester United And Gyokeres was a peripheral figure on Tuesday night, with Arsenal’s opening 45 minutes rated as their best half of football of the season.
It was a quintessential European era performance: clinical in attack, disciplined and dogged in defence. Their 3-0 halftime lead — coming through on goal. Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Howertz And Gabriel Magalhas — fully deserved, the first two Sporting outings from the right-wing combination simply couldn’t match it.
Odegaard’s tendency to drift to the right to link up with Saka is a familiar pattern of play, but one many teams struggle to tackle: Nottingham Forest This was revealed when a massive beating took place at the Emirates Stadium last weekend. with the Jurian Timber Showing promising signs of being a more than capable deputy for the regular right backs. Ben White (He will be out until the New Year after knee surgery), Arsenal’s strength under that wing was such that 65% of their attacks came through that channel in the first half.
Timber set up Martinelli for the opener, while Saka found Havartz for the second on 22 minutes. Gabriel’s third was a header from a corner, extending his impressive set piece record, but after Goncalo Inacio Putting a dent in their defensive record with a post finish around two minutes into the second half, Sporting pulled off an improbable comeback. Arms started showing nerves. Passes gone wrong, pressure building, goalkeeper David Raya Was booked to waste time.
And then suddenly, Odegaard burst through, dribbled past Inasio and somehow, off balance but still purposeful, worked his way into the box, where Ousmane Diomande Could only do it wrong and accept the penalty. Saka drilled the spot kick before the substitution. Leandro Trossard A late fifth was added, but Odegaard was the chief architect. He has more touches of the ball (82) than any other Arsenal player apart from Timber (84) and did not even play the last 12 minutes, rested given Saturday’s tough trip to West Ham.
There are doubts about the overall quality of the Portuguese league, but Arsenal have made up the gulf in class here in a big way, much to their credit. For a start, Tuesday marked the first time Arsenal have scored five away goals in the Champions League since October 2008. Coming into this game there were legitimate questions about their consistency on the road in Europe — Arsenal hadn’t scored a goal. An away goal, one win in eight matches in this competition since December — it was a tremendous response.
Asked if this was the best European performance of his five-year spell, Arteta was unequivocal.
“For sure, especially against the opponent we played at home,” he said after the match. “I don’t think they’ve lost here in 18 months. They’re in top form, they’re better than anyone who’s played here. To play at this level, with the fluidity we’ve done. Today… .I’m very happy.”
Arteta raised eyebrows when he described their 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan as the best he had played in a major European game for years, but that belief was vindicated here.
“It is true that the outcome is very different,” he said. “But I was very happy with the performance and recognition I saw against Inter. I knew good things were going to happen in Europe down the road. We managed to do that today and replicate that. are doing and are more efficient at it. The opposing team is very happy because they are so good and watching them makes me realize how good they are.
Arteta also believes that the return of several players from injury has increased the competitiveness in training, resulting in increased performance levels. That said, Odegaard’s return feels most transformative when he plays like this.
gave Premier League He learned this last weekend and on Tuesday, the Champions League got the same message.