Mikel Arteta heaped praise on his Arsenal sides dominant display after Martin Odegaards decisive strike earned the Gunners a hard-fought 1-0 victory away against Napoli in their Champions League opener. The Gunners controlled proceedings at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, dominating territory and carving out 26 attempts while limiting the hosts to just five shots all evening.Despite the overwhelming superiority, Arsenal repeatedly failed to convert their openings, with Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino, Piero Hincapi, and Noni Madueke all missing clear sights of goal.The breakthrough finally arrived 15 minutes from time when substitute Christos Tzolis helped orchestrate a neat move, allowing captain Odegaard to step up and fire home the crucial winner.The team was superbIt was a fully deserved three points. The performance probably doesnt reflect the result, the team was superb, Arteta said.We showed quality in a lot of moments to break them down and it was a shame because we missed so many great chances. On any other day the result would be different. We should have done it in a different way because of the amount of chances we created.The Spanish manager also singled out his match-winning skipper for special praise, highlighting the midfielders growing knack for delivering decisive goals when his side needs them most to maintain their 100 per cent start to the campaign.Martin is contributing with goals that are impacting results which is what we want from our attacking players, being decisive and certainly he was again today, Arteta added.The narrow victory gets Arsenals European journey off to a winning start, rewarding their territorial control and adding vital momentum ahead of their upcoming Premier League trip to face Sunderland. Topics Arsenal F.C. Mikel Arteta Add us as a preferred source on Google If you enjoy reading this article, you can help support our independent football journalism by adding 101 Great Goals as a preferred source You Should Also Read Napoli 0-1 Arsenal: Odegaard strikes to earn Champions League win in Naples Tom Rostance 9th September, 2026 LIVE Napoli v Arsenal: Commentary, updates, goals and stats Jon Fisher 9th September, 2026 Napoli v Arsenal: Line-ups confirmed as Gunners start fresh Champions League journey Tom Rostance 9th September, 2026 Win tickets to a Champions League game with bet365 Jon Fisher 9th September, 2026 Ballon dOr: Full list of 30 nominees as Messi is included but Ronaldo snubbed Jon Fisher 8th September, 2026 Napoli v Arsenal: Preview, expected line-ups, stats and where to watch Mitch Fretton 8th September, 2026
