From Sports Desk
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was the catalyst for his team’s comfortable win over Chelsea on Wednesday, and afterwards said the side used the defeat by Manchester City last week as an extra motivating factor.
The skipper continued his incredible form this season with two more first-half goals – taking his tally for the campaign to 14 – setting Arsenal on the way to a much-needed victory, after four games without a win.
The result lifted arsenal back onto the top of the Premier League table, with four games remaining, but the title race is no longer in their hands after defeat to City.
“The first half especially was brilliant,” the skipper said after the 3-1 win against Chelsea.
“We came out and showed a different spirit and different team to last time basically. I’m very happy with the first half, but the second half was a bit messy I would say. But it’s three points and a good win and we needed this one to get back.
“Everyone was so hurt after the [City] game, we used this anger and disappointment to get into this game and really bounce back.
“You can lose games, but the way we lost and the way we played [at City], we weren’t ourselves. That’s the most painful and that’s why we wanted to show another side today.”
And it was Odegaard who led the way during the first-half with a real captain’s performance, netting twice from Granit Xhaka cut backs, the first crashing in off the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the area.
“I just tried to help the team,” he said. “This year I’ve been scoring more goals, I’m just happy to help the team. Granit with two good balls too so it’s just to be in the right areas, then it’s easier.
