Martin Odegaard was the hero as the Gunners secured a 1-0 victory against Napoli in Naples.
The Gunners showed poor finishing and were facing an embarrassing draw in their first Champions League appearance since losing the last season’s final to PSG agonizingly.
But Odegaard ensured that the traveling Arsenal fans celebrated a winner thanks to an amazing strike from outside the box – fourth goal in five matches for the captain of his team, including the Community Shield.
Øde to joy 🎼 pic.twitter.com/vIdyDDsEQU
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 9, 2026
Piero Hincapie fell on his knees and beat the floor with both hands in celebration at the end of the whistle because of the result, per BBC Sport.
The Gunners won all of the eight matches they played in the group stage of the competition last season, reaching the final of the tournament, and now they are off to a flying start thanks to a hard-fought victory in Italy.
Mikel Arteta’s side have had three fantastic chances to score a goal and punish the runners-up of last year’s Serie A.
The 29-Pass Team Goal That Unlocked Napoli’s Defense
In the run up to the goal scored by the Premier League giants, there were 29 passes made which is second only to the 33 recorded during the build up to the goal scored by Lucas Perez in Basel in December 2016.
In the opening minutes of the match, Mikel Merino who had not played for his team since January received a golden opportunity but unfortunately headed straight at the goalkeeper Alex Meret who plays for the Spanish club Real Madrid.
The English club almost scored when Bukayo Saka went close but failed to score as he lifted the ball over the crossbar while Hincapie shot wide when he was in the box.
Although the team managed to register 26 shots, the goal was almost scored when David Raya saved a shot from Kevin de Bruyne who has won the Champions League twice with Manchester City in the last two seasons.
The team have taken the highest number of shots this season in a match of the Champions League.
