Odegaard: “We’d better take those lessons”

The captain saw enough in the performance to take something from it, but his message afterwards was centred on learning fast and moving on.

It was perhaps no surprise that Arsenal produced their best performance in some time with Martin Odegaard back in the side, starting alongside Kai Havertz and Ebere Eze for only the second time this season.

But it was not enough, and the Gunners slipped to a 2-1 defeat that allowed Manchester City to take the title race into their own hands.

With Arsenal and City each having one hand on the trophy, Odegaard believes Arsenal need to learn from the lessons of this defeat and move on.

With only five Premier League games left and the title race looking as though it could come down to goal difference, there is precious little time for those lessons to be absorbed.

“It was frustrating,” Odegaard said after the game. “It was a really tight game, eventful, two really good teams going head-to-head. Small margins again to decide it, so we’ve got to take the positives and move onto the next.

“I thought the second half was really good, we had some really good moments there, I thought in the end we put a bit of pressure in the box as well. As I said, small margins and details decide a game like this, so we’d better take those lessons and move on.

“Keep going, keep going. It’s always going to be going all the way to the end, so we have to keep going, keep working hard, and sticking together, you know.

“Just look forward to the next game now and bounce back, and keep going.”

“We created a few big, big chances there as well, so of course there are some positives to take, frustrating at the moment, but we’ll analyse it and move onto the next, you know, bounce back.

“It’s all to play for, and it’s the best part of the season. It’s all to play for, so we’ll just look forward to the next game now, and go from there.”

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