Napoli 0-1 Arsenal: Martin Odegaard scores winner in Champions League opener | OneFootball

Gunners begin new Champions League campaign with a win in Naples

Martin Odegaard’s fine second-half goal saw Arsenal kick off their Champions League campaign with a 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.

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.

Mikel Arteta made four changes from the side that beat Chelsea on Sunday, but his team started with authority and forced several early set-pieces.

Their first effort on goal came in the 14th minute and it would have been a spectacular opener as Saka produced an overhead kick from Viktor Gyokeres’ cross, but it was straight at Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.

Napoli were a threat on the counter-attack, though, and long-time Arsenal nemesis Kevin De Bruyne fired a 20-yard shot that was too hot to handle for David Raya, but the ball went to safety.

The Gunners should have taken the lead midway through the first half as Saka’s deep cross was headed back across goal by Eberechi Eze straight into the path of Merino, but the Spaniard’s header was straight at Meret, who turned over acrobatically.

They continued to press and Ben White could not make proper contact with a shot, while Eze dragged an effort wide after creating space for himself on the edge of the area.

Saka then produced a horror miss on the stroke of half-time.

Odegaard unlocked the Napoli defence with a brilliant ball that played Saka in but, with the goal at his mercy, he skied his effort embarrassingly over the crossbar.

He thought his blushes were spared by the linesman’s flag, but replays showed the England international was well onside.

There was another early chance after the break as more chaos in the Napoli box saw the ball fall to Hincapie in the six-yard box, but the defender somehow stabbed the ball over the crossbar.

Christos Tzolis skied another effort with his first touch as frustrations began to grow.

The breakthrough eventually came in the 75th minute as Odegaard produced the desired moment of quality.

There was a patient build-up before the Norwegian found space on the edge of the box and arrowed a shot in off a post.

The Gunners should have killed the game in the final 10 minutes when Madueke raced clear, but he showed the uncertain finishing that has become a trademark, with Tzolis also being denied from the rebound.

Napoli could have stolen a point at the end as De Bruyne had space in the box and put a ball across the face of goal, but no one was there to convert and Massimiliano Allegri’s difficult start to his reign continued with a third defeat on the bounce.