(Arsenal 3–1 West Ham) Martin Ødegaard (24) continues to dominate in the Premier League. After the World Cup break, he scored two more goals as Arsenal turned around and beat West Ham.
– I actually think we open pretty good, then they score out of nowhere. So we continue and “pass forward”. Then we get a goal and then we are in full control. We are playing a very good game, Ødegaard tells Viaplay.
With former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger returning to the Emirates Stadium for the first time four years, Ødegaard was instrumental in the hosts’ dramatic turnaround after the break. Arsenal extended their lead in the league with three new points.
– He was clearly the man of the match. He completely commands out there, says Viaplay expert Pål André Helland.
The Arsenal and Norway captain cleared a long-range shot just after the break, which would prove to be a perfect goal-scoring pass.
– I won’t dare say it was a ride. It’s tempting, but it was a blow, Ødegaard confirms to Viaplay.
Bukayo Saka had a perfect touch alone with the goalkeeper, sending the home team back into the match:
Ødegaard and Arsenal gathered momentum after a tenacious first half, and shortly after the equalizer the home side took the lead. Again with the captain involved. Ødegaard found Granit Xhaka outside the 16-metre box, who passed Gabriel Martinelli from the edge.
The Brazilian starlet sent a cross into the nearest corner and the home side turned the game around, to the delight of Arsenal legend Wenger in the stands.
Ødegaard was not ready for the evening, and ten minutes after Martinelli’s goal, the Norwegian found Nketiah in the box. The striker – who he replaces in Gabriel Jesus’s injured absence – showed up and finished quickly.
Another defender got past Fabianski in the West Ham cage and 3-1 for the home side.
– An excellent start to the second part of the season. The boys were on the block today. It was nice to pick up where we left off, Nketiah says in an interview broadcast by Viaplay.
– I wish him well. The way he worked, he played little, but he fights every day in training, says Ødegaard of his teammate.
Even former Arsenal hero Cesc Fabregas is beside himself with enthusiasm for the Norwegian. The Spanish legend, two-time European championship winner and 2010 world champion, speculates that players who didn’t participate in the World Cup may have an advantage now, and writes of Ødegaard: “He’s really good today. I love the style of him.
The home team continued in the same vein as before the World Cup break, even before the break, with a lot of ball possession and attacking attacking football. But when Saka’s strike was disallowed for offside after just five minutes and Ødegaard misused his big break-time chance, it was the visitors who took the lead first.
Jarrod Bowen sprinted forward on the break and young stopper William Saliba came too late inside the 16m box. West Ham were awarded a penalty and Said Benrahma made no mistakes.
But with Arsenal’s excellent second half, it was a difficult night for David Moyes and West Ham, who lost their fourth successive Premier League game.
Arsenal are still top of the table, seven points behind second-placed Newcastle. Erling Braut Haaland and Manchester City are eight points behind Arsenal with one game less played. City face Leeds on Wednesday.
