'Star of the show': Owen Hargreaves hails Arsenal player who made six key passes and won four ground duels today
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Arsenal have returned to winning ways with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in their Premier League clash on Saturday.
The Gunners opened the scoring in the 15th minute through Bukayo Saka, who latched onto Martin Odegaard’s flick before driving across the box and firing into the far corner.
Arsenal continued to dominate against the Reds and grabbed a second in the 52nd minute as Saka teed up Thomas Partey to rifle home from 25 yards.
Mikel Arteta’s charges stifled Forest throughout the game, as they failed to test David Raya for the whole of the 90 minutes.
Then, Arsenal added the cherry on top in the 86th minute as Ethan Nwaneri scored his first Gunners goal, slotting home Raheem Sterling’s cross to wrap up all three points.
After the game, Premier League pundit Owen Hargreaves spoke highly about an Arsenal player he said was “the star of the show”.
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Martin Odegaard the ‘star of the show’ for Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
The player in question is Martin Odegaard, whose recent return to action showed just how much Arsenal have missed him.
Hargreaves, speaking on Premier League Productions after the game, also praised Forest for their efforts this season but acknowledged Arsenal had too much for them.
“Nottingham Forest have been unbelievable this season, especially on the counterattack,” he said.
“But it was probably too much to ask of them to turn up and do something at the Emirates… Martin Odegaard was absolutely star of the show.”
Martin Odegaard stats and ratings v Forest
| Goals | 0 |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 0.26 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Expected Assists (xA) | 0.15 |
| Touches | 83 |
| Accurate passes | 60/67 (90%) |
| Key passes | 6 |
| Crosses (accurate) | 1 (0) |
| Long balls (accurate) | 4 (3) |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Shots off target | 0 |
| Shots blocked | 1 |
| Dribbles (successful) | 3 (2) |
| Ground duels (won) | 6 (4) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 0 (0) |
| Fouls | 0 |
| Was fouled | 1 |
| Clearances | 1 |
| Blocked shots | 0 |
| Interceptions | 0 |
| Total tackles | 1 |
Odegaard clocked up some impressive stats on the day, including six key passes and four ground duels won.
Football.london gave the Norwegian an 8 out of 10 rating and wrote: “The Norwegian was simply electric in the first half. Arsenal looked back close to their rampant best as he combined with everyone on the team.
“His assist for Saka’s goal was smart and a lovely way to cap off his return to the Emirates Stadium. Has he arrived just in time to save the Gunners in the title race?”
Meanwhile, the Evening Standard went with 9 out of 10 and wrote: “A dominant performance from the Arsenal captain, which underlined how badly they have missed him.
“Created the opening goal after a lovely give-and-go with Saka and the pair looked so sharp all game.”
