Martin Odegaard was the catalyst for Arsenal’s comfortable 3-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday, and afterwards he said that they used their defeat to Manchester City last week as an extra motivating factor.
The skipper continued his incredible form this season with two more first-half goals – taking his tally for the campaign to 14 – setting the Gunners on the way to a much-needed victory, after four games without a win.
The result lifted Arsenal back onto the top of the Premier League table, with four games remaining, but the title race is no longer in their own hands after the defeat to City. Pep Guardiolla’s red-hot City will face West Ham at home on Wednesday night.
“The first half especially was brilliant,” the skipper said after the 3-1 win against Chelsea.
“We came out and showed a different spirit and different team to last time basically. I’m very happy with the first half, but the second half was a bit messy I would say. But it’s three points and a good win and we needed this one to get back. Everyone was so hurt after the [City] game, we used this anger and disappointment to get into this game and really bounce back.
“You can lose games, but the way we lost and the way we played [at City], we weren’t ourselves. That’s the most painful and that’s why we wanted to show another side today.”
And it was Odegaard who led the way during the first-half with a real captain’s performance, netting twice from Granit Xhaka cut backs, the first crashing in off the underside of the crossbar from just outside the area.
“I just tried to help the team,” he said. “This year I’ve been scoring more goals, I’m just happy to help the team. Granit with two good balls too so it’s just to be in the right areas, then it’s easier.
“When the ball is on the left it’s a bit tricky sometimes when you have right-footed players, but as soon as I see Granit attack the space I know he’s always going to put it in. It’s just about being there in the right areas and then trying to hit the goal!
“[The first one] was a good finish. We needed this goal to get the momentum of the game and after this week, control everything.
“Now we have to fight,” he added, looking ahead to the final four games of the season. “We have to keep going, we will believe until the end and fight until the end and see what happens.” – www.arsenal.com
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