Arsenal edge Napoli as Odegaard continues fine start to season | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard maintained his superb start to the campaign as Arsenal opened their Champions League journey with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Napoli.

The Gunners dominated much of the contest but were made to pay for some wasteful finishing as the hosts held firm for long periods.

Bukayo Saka came closest early on with an ambitious overhead kick, while Mikel Merino saw a header brilliantly kept out by Alex Meret. Saka then missed another promising opportunity, lifting Ødegaard’s clever pass over the crossbar.

Napoli threatened occasionally, with Kevin De Bruyne forcing David Raya into action after the Arsenal goalkeeper spilled his initial effort.

The hosts were dealt a blow at half-time when Meret, who had produced several excellent saves, was replaced by Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

Arsenal continued to push after the interval, although Piero Hincapié squandered a golden chance by firing over from close range.

With the match seemingly heading towards a stalemate, substitute Christos Tzolis found Odegaard on the edge of the area. The Arsenal captain made no mistake, curling a superb angled effort into the far corner with 15 minutes remaining.

Napoli pushed for an equaliser, but Arsenal held firm to begin their European campaign with three valuable points.

Incidents: The story of the match

Napoli Official Line-ups:

Alex Meret, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Rafa Marín, Amir Rrahmani, Mathías Olivera, Stanislav Lobotka, Kevin De Bruyne, Billy Gilmour, Matteo Politano, Rasmus Højlund, Alisson Santos

Arsenal Official Line-ups:

David Raya, Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Piero Hincapié, Gabriel Magalhães, Martin Odegaard, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze

1':

The match begins

Arsenal lead 1-0 against Napoli. Martin Ødegaard scores with a left-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner, assisted by Christos Tzolis.