Martin Ødegaard showed exactly why he wears the armband, smashing in his first goal of the season and helping Arsenal grind out a massive 2–1 win over Brighton for the Gooners.
Martin Ødegaard showed exactly why he wears the armband, smashing in his first goal of the season and helping Arsenal grind out a massive 2–1 win over Brighton for the Gooners.
The Arsenal skipper found the net from his favourite range, drilling a low strike past Bart Verbruggen to fire the Gunners in front and send the Gooners buzzing.
Georginio Rutter’s own goal doubled Arsenal’s lead before Diego Gómez pulled one back for the Seagulls, but the Gunners held firm to make it three Premier League wins in a row, something the Gooners loved to see.
Speaking after the game, Martin revealed he’s been putting in extra work to start finding the net from a distance again — and it finally paid off for Arsenal.
The skipper said: "I've been waiting for that one and working really hard to improve on the finishing. I like to be in those areas, and Bukayo [Saka], we know each other really well, he finds me there, and there was a little angle in the corner there, so it was a good goal."
"It was brilliant. As I said, we've been working really hard to get it, and it was there, so we're really pleased."
Arsenal had to dig deep and show real resilience late on to see the game out, with Declan Rice even stepping in at right-back for the first time in Arsenal colors, and the Gooners loved the shift he put in.
Martin praised Declan’s performance at right-back and said it summed up the strong, collective mentality running through this Arsenal side, with everyone ready to step up for the Gooners when it matters.
He said: "An unbelievable performance from him [Rice]. To play right back, probably the first time in his life, and then do it the way he did it today was unbelievable, so a really, really good performance from him.
"That's just our team, everyone is ready to do whatever it takes for the team, and that was another good example of that."
Arsenal will now be looking forward to a big clash against Aston Villa at the Emirates on Tuesday. Given that only three points separate both sides, this game is indeed a big one in the context of how the title race could shape up at the top of the table. A win for Arsenal could see them reinforce their title ambitions after shaky, unconvincing performances in recent weeks.
