Odegaard Strike Gives Arsenal 1-0 Champions League Win at Napoli

Martin Odegaard scored 15 minutes from time to give Arsenal a 1-0 Champions League victory away to Napoli on Wednesday. The Guardian reported that Arsenal controlled long periods of the match and created the clearer chances before their captain broke the deadlock late in the second half.

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Arsenal threatened early when Bukayo Saka's overhead kick was saved by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret. Mikel Merino then failed to convert after Eberechi Eze headed the ball across goal, while Ben White directed another effort into Meret's hands. Napoli also caused problems on the break, with Kevin De Bruyne forcing an error from David Raya and Matteo Politano testing the Arsenal goalkeeper.

Saka fired over following an Odegaard through ball near halftime, although replays showed the assistant referee's offside flag was incorrect. Napoli changed goalkeepers at the interval, with Vanja Milinkovic-Savic replacing Meret. Arsenal continued to press, and Piero Hincapie missed the target at the far post after White headed the ball into his path.

Napoli coach Massimiliano Allegri responded by moving to a back five, but Arsenal's pressure eventually produced the winning goal. Substitute Christos Tzolis exchanged passes with White before setting up Odegaard, whose shot went in off the post despite Milinkovic-Savic getting fingertips to it. Kai Havertz later had an injury-time goal disallowed for offside.

The goal continued a productive run for Odegaard, who has scored four times in his past five games after managing one goal in all competitions last season. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his captain is reaching scoring positions more regularly and praised the mindset and personality he showed to decide the match.

Arsenal also introduced Noni Madueke, who had an opportunity to make the winning margin larger late on. The victory followed a campaign in which Arsenal won all eight of their league-phase matches before their unbeaten European run ended after 14 games. Napoli, by contrast, had finished 30th in the previous season's league phase. Wednesday's result gave Arsenal another winning start while leaving Napoli without a reward from a match in which they spent much of the second half defending.