Martin Odegaard says he was working hard behind the scenes to end his recent goal drought, so he was glad to do so against Brighton on Saturday.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard opened the scoring against Brighton and Hove Albion with an excellent finish in the 14th minute, setting himself on the edge of the penalty area before firing in at the near post.
The goal was Odegaard’s first of the 2025/26 campaign in all competitions, and the 27-year-old admitted after the game that he’d been working hard to end his recent drought.
“I’ve been waiting for that one and working really hard to improve on the finishing,” Odegaard said.
“I like to be in those areas, and Bukayo [Saka], we know each other really well, he finds me there, and there was a little angle in the corner there, so it was a good goal.
“It was brilliant. As I said, we’ve been working really hard to get it, and it was there, so we’re really pleased.”
In fairness to Odegaard, his season so far has been significantly disrupted by injury. The midfielder has often been out of the starting lineup, and even when he’s been in it he’s had to come off early on multiple occasions.
The Norway international has only played more than 45 minutes in five Premier League fixtures and two Champions League fixtures this season, making the fact he hadn’t scored a bit easier to understand.
Even so, these kinds of records hang over a player until they get off the mark, and Saturday was the right time to do it.
With Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori suffering late injuries before the game and title rivals Manchester City scoring a winner just minutes prior to kick-off, it would have been easy for heads to drop in the early exchanges.
Instead, Odegaard ensured Arsenal got the match off to a good start, and that they ultimately secured another three points to return to the top of the table.