Mikel Arteta has admitted Martin Odegaard will need to be assessed after the Arsenal captain was substituted during the hard-fought win over Aston Villa.
Odegaard was on the receiving end of a robust challenge from Villa's John McGinn which Arteta described as "harsh". McGinn was shown a yellow card for his tackle on 68 minutes, with Odegaard replaced 13 minutes later by Emile Smith Rowe.
Speaking after the game, Arteta said: "He was in pain, let’s assess him but he felt pain from that challenge." It comes on the same day Mohamed Elneny was ruled out for a lengthy period after suffering an injury vs Fulham, while Thomas Partey continues to struggle with a muscle problem.
Arsenal had already restored their lead over Villa by the time Odegaard limped off, with Gabriel Martinelli's winning goal on 77 minutes proving to be difference. Gabriel Jesus had opened the scoring in the first half, finishing off a loose ball after Grant Xhaka's cross was deflected.
Villa rallied however and managed to pull themselves back level through Douglas Luiz, who scored direct from a corner again for the third time in a matter of weeks. The Brazilian first produced the trick during a friendly vs Walsall in pre-season, before pulling it out the bag again against Bolton in the Carabao Cup, with Arsenal the latest victims.
Aaron Ramsdale complained of a foul on him by Ollie Watkins, who appeared to block the Arsenal keeper, but even a VAR review saw no issue and allowed the goal to stand. Fortunately for Arsenal, Villa's joy was short-lived. It took just three minutes for the Gunners to get their noses back in front, Martinelli firing into the top-left corner of the goal after starting the move, with Bukayo Saka delivering the pinpoint cross to the back post for his teammate.
Where will Arsenal finish in the table this season? Have your say in the comments below.
The win sees Arsenal maintain their perfect start to the season with five wins from as many games as they remain two points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table. Arteta said: "Really happy with the result, it is so tough to win in this league and our first half was probably the best we have played, we could have scored three, four or five.
"We didn’t kill the game and left it alive in the second half of the game. It became a little bit of a transitional game and we did not allow them anything apart from the corner which they scored from, but then we scored again and I think we deserved to win the game."
Quizzed on Arsenal's winning run, he replied: "It could have been very different tonight, obviously when the game turns that way you have to have the tools, the resilience the character to add to that and the team did that to win.
"We prepare for the next one, we go to Old Trafford [on Sunday] and put in a performance, play well and earn the right to win the game."
