Napoli v Arsenal LIVE: Odegaard the hero as Gunners grind their way to opening Champions League win

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The Independent

·9 September 2026

Napoli v Arsenal LIVE: Odegaard the hero as Gunners grind their way to opening Champions League win

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

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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 following a lovely team move.

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.