After setting new standards in the Champions League last season, Arsenal have started strongly once more. Travel disruption on Tuesday delayed the team and many of their supporters, while Napoli made Mikel Arteta’s players wait for a breakthrough. Martin Ødegaard eventually delivered it with the decisive goal 15 minutes before the final whistle.
Arsenal were required by Uefa to play in red shorts for the first time since a 2022 Premier League meeting with Watford. Whether or not the unusual kit affected them, the visitors lacked their usual fluency and wasted several good opportunities.
Even so, Arsenal fully merited the victory, and substitute Noni Madueke could have added another goal late in the contest.
Arteta’s team came close to winning the tournament last season after becoming the first side to claim victories in all eight league-stage fixtures. If Ødegaard maintains his outstanding form, they appear capable of taking the final step this year.
The Norwegian captain has now scored four times in five appearances, having managed only one goal across all competitions last season. His name echoed around the stadium as the travelling fans, held inside for more than an hour after the match, celebrated the result.
Arteta said the team needs players who possess the confidence and character to settle important matches. He added that Ødegaard has recently reached dangerous areas more often, believes he can score whenever the opportunity arrives, and is benefiting from stronger connections with the teammates around him.
Arteta had previously endured a difficult evening at this ground, receiving a red card during a 2-0 Champions League group defeat in 2013. Arsenal’s next visit brought happier memories when they secured a place in the 2019 Europa League semi-finals under Unai Emery. Both teams have since won their domestic championships, with Napoli ending a 33-year drought in 2023 before lifting the title again two years later. European success, however, has remained beyond Napoli, who finished 30th in last season’s league phase.
Arsenal’s campaign could hardly have been more different, as they remained unbeaten for 14 games before narrowly missing out. Arteta retained four members of the defensive unit that began Sunday’s match against Chelsea. Piero Hincapié replaced Riccardo Calafiori at left-back but failed to reproduce the Italian’s scoring touch when presented with a clear chance. Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres also made their first starts of the season, although none had a major impact. The Swedish forward was replaced by Kai Havertz shortly before Ødegaard struck the winner.
The Arsenal supporters who reached southern Italy remained in excellent voice, while numerous seats in the home areas were empty despite Max Allegri’s pre-match appeal for backing. Arsenal soon took control inside Napoli’s half, leaving the hosts to search for opportunities on the counterattack. Kevin De Bruyne, highly familiar with this opponent from his decade at Manchester City, surged through midfield and pressured David Raya into an uncommon error, but Arsenal recovered and cleared the danger.
Moments earlier, Alex Meret had stopped an acrobatic overhead effort from Bukayo Saka. Merino then failed to convert after Eze intelligently headed the ball across goal, before Ben White drove a shot directly into Meret’s hands.
Matteo Politano later tested Raya as Napoli continued to locate openings in Arsenal’s typically disciplined defence. Just before half-time, Ødegaard produced an excellent through ball for Saka, who fired over. Replays subsequently showed that the assistant referee had incorrectly raised the offside flag.
Meret was unable to continue after the interval, so Vanja Milinkovic-Savic took his place. The Serbian goalkeeper could only watch as Arsenal assembled a smooth attacking move featuring a delicate lifted pass into the penalty area. White headed the ball toward Hincapié at the back post, but the defender sent his attempt wide. Arsenal then tightened their control and kept Napoli pinned back. Allegri reacted by moving to a five-player defence in an effort to preserve the draw.
The sustained pressure finally produced a goal when substitute Christos Tzolis combined with White before setting up Ødegaard. The midfielder’s shot struck the post and crossed the line despite Milinkovic-Savic getting his fingertips to it. Havertz later found the net during stoppage time, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside, but Arsenal had already secured the victory.
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