Martin Odegaard’s fine second-half goal saw Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win 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 following a lovely team move.
It should have been a much more routine victory but Mikel Merino, Bukayo Saka, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke all missed sitters. Still, they maintained their 100 per cent start to the season and their attention now turns to a testing Premier League trip to Sunderland on Saturday.
Relive all the action from the Champions League clash with our live blog below:
Arsenal find the missing piece and may be ready to finally win the Champions League
Maybe this is the difference for Arsenal. It isn’t necessarily a new attacker, to rise to Paris Saint-Germain’s level, but their current attackers showing their true level.
Above all – in so many ways – Martin Odegaard. The playmaker has, in the last few weeks, been unrecognisable from last season. And this match-winning goal away to Napoli was the sort of moment so often missing from last season.
The beautifully angled 75th-minute shot, driven in off the post in the strongest of straight lines, only served to fully symbolise the change in direction. A game that had been fairly turgid, and reminiscent of some of Arsenal’s more debated matches last season, was instead turned into something else.
It was another win of champions, as well as a near-perfect start to the Champions League campaign to continue this perfect to the season. A 100 per cent record, and the captain looking like he’s fully on it.
Read Miguel Delaney’s full report from Naples:
Martin Odegaard the hero for Arsenal
Here’s that Martin Odegaard goal again. Great build-up, even better hit
FULL-TIME! Napoli 0-1 Arsenal
That’s it! Arsenal take all three points in Naples. Martin Odegaard finished off a lovely team move with a thunderbolt strike on 75 minutes to finally break the deadlock.
Arsenal should have scored more as they missed plenty of chances but one was enough in the end. They begin their Champions League campaign with three points.
NO GOAL! Napoli 0-1 Arsenal, 90+2 mins
Two good tackles from Rice in his own half to stop a Napoli attack.
Arsenal then counter. Good save by Milinkovic-Savic as he gets down well to repel Tzolis’s shot and the rebound is turned in by Havertz but the flag immediately goes up – he’s offside. No goal
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal, 90 mins
Four minutes of added time. Arsenal should see this out but that De Bruyne moment will have been a warning.
CHANCE! Napoli 0-1 Arsenal, 88 mins
Oh, Kevin De Bruyne should shoot there! The ball is flicked through to him, he’s on the left edge of the six-yard box but rather than unleashing a shot, he squares the ball across goal, thinking Lucca is there for a tap-in but he’s not! The ball runs safely away.
Let-off for Arsenal.
WATCH: Odegaard finally scores for Arsenal
Here is that Martin Odegaard goal. Lovely team move and a thunderbolt of a finish.
SAVE! Napoli 0-1 Arsenal, 85 mins
Noni Madueke HAS to score there and finish this game off. He’s through one one one but can’t slot the ball beyond Milinkovic-Savic who makes himself big and denies the winger.
He then tries to go past him again before laying the ball back to Tzolis but a desperation lunging block by a Napoli defender stops it being 2-0.
Napoli 0-1 Arsenal, 82 mins
You’d back Arsenal to see this game out now but Napoli are starting to take their chances a bit more in attack.
Nottingham Forest failure Lorenzo Lucca came off the bench in the aftermath of that Arsenal goal by the way, so can he be an unlikely hero?
