Arsenal: Mikel Arteta hails Martin Odegaard leadership after Viktor Gyokeres penalty decision

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·20 de dezembro de 2025

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta hails Martin Odegaard leadership after Viktor Gyokeres penalty decision

Norwegian took charge after first-half spot-kick was awarded

Mikel Arteta praised Martin Odegaard's leadership after he handed Viktor Gyokeres the ball to take Arsenal's penalty in the win over Everton.

Vídeos OneFootball

There has been scrutiny on Gyokeres' performances in recent weeks, with the striker going into this match without a goal since he returned from a hamstring injury at the end of November.

Arsenal were gifted a penalty at the Hill Dickinson Stadium when Jake O'Brien jumped with both hands above his head and handled the ball.

Odegaard picked up the ball before handing it over to Gyokeres, who emphatically smashed the spot-kick past Jordan Pickford for the only goal of the match.

"Very happy for him," Arteta said.

"They took ownership on the pitch between Martin and Bukayo and him to decide who was the taker.

"They made a great decision because Viktor put the ball in back of the net."

Odegaard and Saka have often rotated penalty-taking duties, and the Arsenal captain also has previous when it comes to giving players the chance for a confidence-boosting goal.

He handed the ball to Kai Havertz for a penalty against Bournemouth in 2023 which the German converted for his first Arsenal goal.

Asked after the win over Everton whether this was another example of the Arsenal captain showing his leadership, Arteta responded: "Yes I agree with that.

"And as well the confidence on the player because obviously he practices every day. He's unbelievable at it and he put the ball in the back of the net.

"I love when players take ownership and decide what is the best decision. That's something really positive."

Arsenal's win ensured they will sit top of the Premier League table on Christmas Day.

They restricted Everton to just one shot on target and Arteta was content with the display from his side despite the narrow margin of victory.

"Well, I'm very happy with the result," Arteta said.

"We did part of the performance against a team that is very difficult to beat, really well organised. They can really stress you in the way they play.

"The game can become chaotic. We didn't allow that to happen, except for one sequence of two corners and one throw after we kicked the ball out of play. In the second half, we had three massive chances to put in the second goal or the third one.

"We didn't do it. You can suffer at the end. We didn't because we haven't conceded anything, but overall the margins could have been bigger.”