“We are lucky to have him there” – Martin Odegaard lavishes praise on Arsenal teammate after 1-0 win at Crystal Palace
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was full of praise for teammate Eddie Nketiah after the 10-man Gunners' hard-fought 1-0 Premier League win at Crystal Palace on Monday (August 21) night.
Odegaard, 24, was the lone goalscorer on the night, converting a 53rd-minute penalty, but the visitors had to dig deep after Takehiro Tomiyasu saw red in the 67th.
Nketiah, meanwhile, was deserving of the praise and could have opened the scoring himself. A brilliant move and turn away from his England international teammate Marc Guehi gave Nketiah a sight at goal, but his effort hit the woodwork.
Having scored in the Gunners' 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest in their league opener last weekend, Nketiah couldn't make it two in two but had a huge role to play in Martin Odegaard's goal.
A quick free-kick from Gabriel Martinelli saw Nketiah tripped inside the Palace box. Up stepped Odegaard to convert the resulting spot-kick, which would be the only goal of the night. The Gunners captain duly recognised his teammate's contribution, telling Premier League Productions (as per HITC):
“Brilliant again. You see the contribution every game and every time he (Nketiah) plays. We are lucky to have him there, and he gives us so much. Well done again to him and to the whole team for really digging for it, fighting for it and getting the three points.”
Nketiah, 24, has helped fire the Gunners to the top of the standings, behind Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City on goal difference.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta 'surprised' that Martin Odegaard took the penalty against Crystal Palace
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is undoubtedly happy with the three points on the night. The Spaniard also added that he was surprised that it was his captain Martin Odegaard who took the spot-kick against Palace rather than Bukayo Saka.
To Arteta's surprise, it was Odegaard and not Saka, who stepped up. It's pertinent to note that Saka missed his last spot-kick in the league against West Ham United last season, a game the Gunners could have won.
Arteta said (as per Metro) that there's no designated first-choice penalty-taker in the team, as he leaves that to the players on the field. Odegaard 'surprised' his boss by taking the penalty, but the Spaniard is happy that the chance didn't go begging:
"I have no clue, it’s about leadership of players, and if they felt it was the right thing to do, for me, I’m fine. They have to make those decisions on the pitch. I was surprised like everybody else, but he scored the goal, which is the important thing and we won the game."
Arsenal next take on Fulham at home on Saturday (August 6) before travelling to Manchester United eight days later.