10/09/2026
Arsenal kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win over Napoli at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last night. We should have won by a much bigger margin, but our finishing let us down. That said, any kind of away win in the Champions League shouldn't be sniffed at.
Arteta made 4 changes from a 2-1 win over Chelsea at the Emirates. Hincapie, Merino, Eze and Gyokeres replaced Calafiori, MLS, Tzolis and Havertz. Gyokeres did little to dislodge Havertz from a starting XI. Throughout the game, we amassed 26 shots and expected goals of 4.05. One goal was a very slim return. Also, 6 big chances missed was a poor reading. Merino missed a glorious chance by heading Eze's headed cross straight at the keeper, when he was in a great position. Saka had 6 shots, only one of which was on target. We were frustrated to end the 1st half goalless.
2nd half started in the same manner. Hincapie scooped his volley over the bar from close range. Rice had a couple of shots, well over the bar as usual. In 66th minute, ineffectual Merino and Eze were replaced by Bruno G and Tzolis. In 73rd minute, Gyokeres and Saka also made way for Havertz and Madueke. In 75th minute, we finally found a breakthrough in Odegaard's powerful strike, which hit the inside of the far post and ended in the net despite the goalkeeper having finger tips to it. It was our captain's 4th goal from 5 games this season. Tzolis also claimed his 4th assist of the season, including the Community Shield, three of which were for Odegaard's goals. This is undoubtedly a new chemistry developing. Havertz also dragged a defender to himself to give Odegaard a space to take an aim leading to the goal. Now the hosts had to come out, with spaces looking to open up. Madueke had a one-on-one chance with the keeper after Havertz selflessly played him in on a break, but the England international shot straight at the keeper. Tzolis latched onto the rebound and put a shot away, which was, unfortunately for us, cleared off the line. At the other end, De Bruyne dashed into our box, and for some reasons, decided to cross instead of shoot. Thankfully, the ball rolled out of play for a goal kick. In the 2nd of 4 added minutes, we briefly thought we finally put the game to bed as Havertz tucked in a rebound from a parried Tzolis shot. But the goal was chalked off quickly as Havertz was correctly deemed to have been offside when Tzolis took his shot. We were not clinical, but our solid defence saw out a narrow win.
Odegaard was deservedly named official and Arsenal fans' voted MOTM. Arteta described our skipper's confidence levels at the moment as high as he's ever seen. It's great to see Odegaard on form again. Long may it continue. It was an impressive performance collectively, apart from shooting.
This was the first of our 4 away games on the trot, which was now safely ticked off with 3 points. Next up is a Premier League clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night. It's a quick turnaround, and these away games immediately after a glittering Champions League night used to give us problems in the past, but hopefully, we can maintain our 100% winning record this weekend.
