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Mikel Arteta praised the goalscoring midfield duo of Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard after Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League.
Wednesday night’s victory All but guaranteed that the Gunners would reach the last 16 of the competition, only for an emphatic defeat to Girona in their final game and results elsewhere to see them exit the top eight.
weaponsThe victory over the Croatian giants was relatively straightforward, with Rice firing them ahead in the second minute. Their dominance was further rewarded when Kai Havers doubled the lead with a header after the hour mark and Odegaard added some gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time to end his goal drought.
The Gunners skipper has not scored in a fixture since the end of November during the 5-2 demolition of West Ham United, and has had a clean sheet in his previous 13 matches in all competitions.
“You could tell the anger and the desire to do it by the way Martin celebrated (it),” Arteta said afterwards. Norwegian Player of the Match display at the Emirates Stadium.
Rice also entered Wednesday’s duel on a barren run, failing to get his name on the scoresheet during Arsenal’s past seven matches, but a well-taken effort saw him score first. Champions League goal.
“His intent, his aim, especially the attacking positions he’s taking and how he’s driving with the ball. He has another bite to his game and could have scored two goals today,” enthused Arteta.
“Over the last few weeks he’s had some big, big open opportunities to score to impact the game, so overall, I’m very happy because we need to impact the game from that position and he’s certainly been able to do that.”
Arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead during their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa last weekend as they stumbled. Premier League title race, but they return to home action on Saturday when they visit Wolverhampton Wanderers.
