ODE TO JOY! Arsenal skipper spares Gunners' blushes as champions narrowly avoid Hull slip-up with second-half strike after penalty controversy

Martin Odegaard was the Arsenal hero as Mikel Arteta's men found a way to grind out another victory against a game Hull City side.

Heavily fancied to further their advantage at the Premier League summit at home to last season's Championship play-off winners, Arsenal rather stumbled out of the blocks. They even had to endure some hairy moments at the back early on, including one from a corner after David Raya lost flight of the ball in the air.

The Spaniard had to be alert to ensure Arsenal's imperious defence wasn't breached by the buoyant visitors before the champions wrestled control of the game away as the half wore on, thwarting Elliot Stroud from inside the box with a fine stop.

Though Arsenal belatedly came to life late in the half, the expected breakthrough failed to arrive until the 72nd minute when Odegaard vanquished the growing Emirates nerves.

Odegaard was alive and on the spot to react after Konstantinos Tzolakis repelled a Noni Madueke effort away from goal, thumping the loose ball into the net to tame the Tigers.

There were chances to add gloss to the scoreline in the closing minutes through Noni Madueke. But Odegaard's strike was the clincher.

Get our comprehensive football coverage, with news, updates, opinions, analysis and everything that matters to you, straight to your inbox.

To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

Make sure you don't miss sport's biggest stories and breaking news by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

REF'S FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHT

As a pretty drab first half drew to a close, it seemed, briefly, as though VAR could give the game a much needed spark. Kai Havertz had his shirt pulled by Nobel Mendy in the box and referee Farai Hallam was sent to the pitchside monitor.

Hallam subsequently informed the crowd there was a holding offence after reviewing the incident - before immediately bursting the home fans bubble by revealing Havertz was in an offside position. The fact that was the most notable moment of the first period tells its own story.

GUNNERS DODGE SLIP UP

Arsenal ended last season as the best team in the Premier League and they've started the 2026-27 campaign in a similar vein. But they narrowly avoided a pretty spectacular banana skin by the skin of their teeth here.

Hull were never going to just be a punching bag and kept Raya and Arsenal's diligent defence honest, particular in the early embers of the game. But the Gunners do what champions do - they found a way to win.

ODEGAARD STEPS UP

With Bukayo Saka missing, Arsenal needed a talisman to get them out of jail against Hull. And it was none other than their rejuvenated captain who delivered just when they needed it most.

This was Odegaard's third Premier League goal of the season already. For context, he mustered just one in the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign. This looks and feels much more like the classy operator who had been pulling the Arsenal strings prior to last year's lean spell. And considering Arsenal failed to sufficiently enhance their attacking options in the summer transfer window and are without Saka, a return to form for Odegaard could prove to be priceless.