After their record-breaking feats last year in the Champions League, Arsenal are at it again. But having been delayed along with hundreds of travelling supporters by travel chaos on Tuesday, Mikel Arteta’s side had to bide their time against Napoli until Martin Ødegaard continued his rich vein of goalscoring to start the new campaign with the crucial strike.
Perhaps it was the fact they were forced to wear red shorts for the first time since a Premier League game against Watford in 2022 due to Uefa’s insistence that Arsenal were not quite at their flowing best here. Yet they were deserved winners in the end and the substitute, Noni Madueke, should have made the victory more comprehensive in the dying moments as Napoli chased the game. Having come so close to breaking their duck in this competition last year after becoming the first team to win all eight of their group stage matches, Arsenal look equipped to go all the way again if Ødegaard can keep up this sparkling form.
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