Captain Martin Ødegaard pounced on a rebound in the 72nd minute as Premier League leaders Arsenal beat Hull City 1-0 at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, a fifth straight league win before the international break.
Match facts
- Result: Arsenal 1-0 Hull City (half-time 0-0)
- Competition: Premier League, Matchweek 10
- Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
- Scorers: Arsenal - Ødegaard 72'
- Red cards: None
- Attendance: 60,285
- Next: Newcastle United v Arsenal, Saturday 21 November; Hull City v Brighton and Hove Albion, Sunday 22 November
How the match unfolded
Hull, back in the top flight, came to compete rather than only defend. John Egan headed a Regan Slater corner just wide in the second minute, and Ezri Konsa sent Arsenal's first header past the far post four minutes later.
The visitors had the best early opening in the 18th minute, when Elliot Stroud burst into the box and forced a sharp save from David Raya. Declan Rice fired just wide from distance ten minutes later, and Raya also had to keep out a Semi Ajayi header in the 31st minute.
Konstantinos Tzolakis made comfortable saves from Rice and Christos Tzolis in the 35th and 36th minutes.
The big talking point came in the 43rd minute. Kai Havertz had his shirt pulled by Nobel Mendy inside the area, and the VAR sent referee Farai Hallam to the pitchside monitor. Hallam agreed Havertz had been fouled but awarded no penalty because the German was in an offside position. Tzolakis saved a Rice header in stoppage time and it stayed goalless at the break.
Arsenal raised the tempo after half-time. Tzolakis saved from Noni Madueke in the 57th minute and from Tzolis two minutes later, and Mikel Arteta turned to his bench, sending on Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres in the 63rd minute and Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapié in the 69th. Hull lost Ajayi to injury at the same stage, with Lucas Herrington replacing him.
The breakthrough came in the 72nd minute. Madueke drove a low shot from the right side of the box that Tzolakis could only parry, and Ødegaard reacted first to steer the rebound into the bottom right corner from close range.
Tzolakis kept Hull in the game with saves from Merino and Gyökeres, and late on Madueke went through but was stopped by the goalkeeper before Brooke Norton-Cuffy cleared the loose ball off the line. Arsenal saw out four minutes of stoppage time.
What does the win mean for Arsenal and Hull?
Arsenal have 27 points from 10 games, with nine wins and only one defeat, the 3-0 loss at Brighton in September. They have now won all five home league games this season and kept their seventh clean sheet. Manchester City, on 21 points from nine games, were playing at Nottingham Forest at the time of writing and could still cut the gap to three points.
According to BBC Sport's live coverage, Arteta told Match of the Day: "We had to wait and be patient in the last part of the game to make the difference and win the game." On the penalty decision, he told Sky Sports: "I don't know, I was confused because when the referee went to the monitor I thought it was because it was a clear penalty."
The result followed last week's 1-0 win at Liverpool, and Arsenal were again without Bukayo Saka, who is out for weeks with a thigh injury.
Hull stay on 11 points and have not won in eight league games since opening the season with two victories. "Unfortunately we conceded a cheap goal," manager Sergej Jakirovic told Sky Sports, as quoted by BBC Sport. "We have shown we can compete at this level."
What happens next?
After the international break, Arsenal visit Newcastle United on Saturday 21 November (17:30 UK), and Hull host Brighton on Sunday 22 November (14:00 UK). More from the round is in our Premier League section.
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