Arsenal clinched a 1-0 win over Bodo/Glimt in Norway to move clear at the top of their Europa League group.
The Gunners have been in a confident mood this term, winning all but one of our matches in all competitions, and there was nothing different today.
Whether we are in top form or not, we are able to find a way to get over the line this term, and while we were the better side today, we could only the one goal, and a lucky one at that.
We struggled to get a strong rhythm together today, and our finishing was certainly lacking today, but there was some standout performances. Bukayo Saka was potent down the right, continually putting pressure on their left-back Brice Wembangomo, and it was no surprise that his hard work was integral to our goal.
The England international ran at the defender, before playing a neat one-two to break into the box, but when placing his effort past the goalkeeper’s right, a deflection off the incoming defender sent it past into the opposite side of the net.
Bodo did attempt to come back at us in the remainder of the half, but our defence proved strong enough to deal with the threat, and Matt Turner had little work to do in reality.
Things were different after the break however, with the home side enjoying much more success against our back line. They were looking much more dangerous after the interval, and looked a real threat to our 100% record, and it was no surprise that Arteta moved to bring in the big guns with Thomas Partey brought on to shore things up.
In the end, we had to hang on for the three points with us very-much second-best in the second half, but a wins a win, and getting through the match without any injuries on the artificial pitch, and we can probably thank our rivals failures in front of goal for the win.
Patrick