Christian Norgaard has opened up on Brentford’s plans that helped them to beat Arsenal in their Premier League opener and claims they targeted Granit Xhaka.
The Bees stung the Gunners in their first-ever top-flight match with a 2-0 win as Mikel Arteta’s side struggled to cope with their press, intensity and invention.
It was a fitting way to start their life in the Premier League, but they had some help from Arsenal to achieve it.
Arsenal were in dismal defensive form as the hosts almost ran riot with even the Gunners latest signing, Ben White struggling in the match.
Norgaard scored one of their goals and spoke about their performance after the game.
In an interview, he shared that they targeted closing down Arsenal’s midfield to make Xhaka ineffective at all times even though the Gunners did get some space through Emile Smith Rowe.
Norgaard said as quoted by Sun Sports: “If you look at our midfield, it is not the most offensive so it was already quite defensive and compact, but it is mobile.
“Our plan was to close down the middle where they have good players like Granit Xhaka.
“Although sometimes they did get a bit too much space and created dangerous moments through Emile Smith-Rowe, we closed it down the whole game.
“That was one very small achievement in comparison to the whole season but we were already confident before this game and that confidence just got boosted.
“We could have played even better. It was a good start.”