Arsenal beat Hull City 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, with Martin Odegaard sweeping in the rebound 18 minutes from time to keep the champions six points clear at the top of the Premier League.
It was not pretty for long spells. Hull sat deep, made the Gunners pass sideways and kept them out until the 72nd minute, and Arsenal also had a first-half penalty taken away by VAR in the strangest way possible.
But the result is what Mikel Arteta’s side came for. It was their fifth league win in a row, their ninth in ten Premier League games this season, and it kept their 100% home record in the league intact.
How did Arsenal beat Hull City?
The breakthrough finally came through the two players who carried Arsenal all afternoon. Noni Madueke got a shot away inside the box, Konstantinos Tzolakis could only push it back into a dangerous area, and Martin Odegaard reacted first to tap home.
The captain had been the one injecting pace into Arsenal’s play whenever he got on the ball, and he deserved the goal. It comes days after he reached 250 games for the club in Prague, and he has looked sharper with every match since.
Arsenal nearly made it two late on. Madueke went clean through, Tzolakis got a tackle in, the ball ricocheted off Nobel Mendy and Brooke Norton-Cuffy had to clear it off the line.
Before that, the chances were thin. Declan Rice went closest in the first half, Madueke forced a save from a tight angle just after the restart, and David Raya had to be alert at the other end when Elliot Stroud drilled one in low early on.
Why was Arsenal’s penalty against Hull overturned?
The big talking point came in the first half. Kai Havertz went down in the box after his shirt was pulled by Mendy, and although nothing was given on the pitch, VAR sent referee Farai Hallam to the monitor.
Everyone in the stadium expected a penalty. Instead, Hallam announced that Havertz had indeed been fouled, but that no spot kick would be given because the forward had been offside first.
Arteta was as puzzled as anyone. Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, he said: “I don’t know. When they called the referee to the monitor I thought it was a penalty but then I heard the decision was made because of the offside decision. We don’t have clarity on it.”
It was a mirror image of last week at Anfield, where Jurrien Timber pulled Alexander Isak’s shirt and Liverpool were denied a penalty. This time Arsenal were on the wrong end of it, and only Odegaard’s goal stopped it becoming the story of the weekend.
What did Arteta say after Arsenal 1-0 Hull City?
Arteta was full of praise for the way his players kept going. “Very happy with the performance and the victory as well. I think it is time to praise my players. What they have done not only today but after the international break is remarkable because of the games,” he said.
He also revealed the half-time message: “We had to wait and be patient in the last part of the game to make the difference and win the game. We kept generating chances, the final pass was missing or the last shot was blocked. We said at half-time if this is the case it will go all the way to full time but at some point it would come.”
And he did not hide the one thing that needs work: “We need to put the chances we are creating against the opponent into the scoreline. That is what we need to improve.”
Arteta’s changes on the hour
Arsenal lined up with Raya; Timber, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori; Rice, Bruno Guimarães; Odegaard; Christos Tzolis, Madueke and Havertz. Konsa kept his place with William Saliba not in the matchday squad, and Havertz led the line ahead of Viktor Gyokeres, two calls that differed from our Arsenal predicted lineup vs Hull City.
Gyokeres replaced Havertz and Mikel Merino came on for Rice after 63 minutes, then Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie came on for Tzolis and Calafiori six minutes later. The goal arrived three minutes after that second double change. Martin Zubimendi came on for Guimarães in the 89th minute to see it out.
Hull run Arsenal close but stay winless
Hull City won their first two games back in the top flight, but they have now gone eight league matches without a win. They are four points above the relegation zone and have not beaten Arsenal in 15 meetings, the famous 2-1 win at the Emirates in 2008 still their last.
They also lost centre-back Semi Ajayi to an injury in the second half, and Arsenal scored soon after he went off.
Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic was proud of the effort. He told BBC Match of the Day: “We need to take lessons. I think this team is still growing. It is a very, very big experience for us to compete at this level and especially against Arsenal.” On the goal, he added: “It was bad fortune. Maybe we could stop the second ball for their goal.”
Six clear, but the attack still needs sharpening
This is the kind of game champions win. Arsenal were not at their best, they had a penalty taken off them, and they still found a way, which is exactly what they did on the way to last season’s title. Their unbeaten home run in all competitions now stands at 11 games.
The worry is the same one Arteta admitted. Havertz had a poor afternoon, Gyokeres did not change much when he came on, and the clear chances only came once Odegaard and Madueke took over. With Manchester City’s evening game at Nottingham Forest still to settle the gap overnight, the Gunners have done their part. The goals from the No.9 spot will have to come soon if they want this lead to keep growing.
