Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has cleared the air over his second goal against Bournemouth, where he appeared to snatch the ball from teammate Gabriel Jesus.
Captain Odegaard scored twice for the Gunners inside the opening 15 minutes on Saturday, setting Mikel Arteta's side on their way to a comfortable 3-0 victory. William Saliba rounded off the scoring, and Jesus thought he'd added a fourth only for the goal to be ruled out for offside following a VAR check.
Arsenal's number nine had looked ready to pounce after Ben White's low ball into the box, but was left waiting to add to the two goals he scored last weekend against Leicester City. However, Odegaard shut down any efforts anyone might have made to turn it into a bigger issue than it was.
"He was okay with me, he said I was in a better position," Odegaard said after the game. "I try to give him one back but unfortunately [it] was offside but that’s football
"I think he’s not just about the goals, he gives us so much in the play as well," the Norwegian star explained. "He drops down to combine, he’s brilliant in a lot of phases in the game, it’s amazing to play with and we’re really lucky to have him here."
Odegaard's brace has seen him pull level with Jesus on two league goals this season. Gabriel Martinelli also has two for Arsenal, with Saliba and Granit Xhaka notching one apiece over the first three games.
The victory for Arsenal moved them to the top of the table, at least until Manchester City face Newcastle United on Sunday. Tottenham Hotspur had briefly gone top at lunchtime with a narrow victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Harry Kane scoring the only goal of the game.
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"I think it was really solid from start to the end, we come out and we dominated the game completely, we created chances and scored some goals," Odegaard said of his own team's performance. "It looks good, looks solid so I’m happy for the three points and we have to keep going."
Pundit Jamie Redknapp said Arsenal's fans should be proud of the team, making comparisons to the poor start to the 2021-22 season. Back then, Mikel Arteta's side lost their first three games before recovering to finish fifth.
"If you rewind it a year, the manager was under intense pressure, the team looked like it had no backbone and there would be change at the club, right now, this is completely different," Redknapp told Sky Sports. "They have a resilience about them, strength, you can bring on Smith Rowe and change it around, Tierney comes off the bench, you look at this Arsenal team and think why can’t they achieve something?
