Martin Odegaard opens his account for Arsenal in style with unstoppable piledriver against Olympiacos – and Real Madrid loanee reveals he has ‘felt at home since the first day’ at the club
Martin Odegaard voiced his delight after scoring his first goal for Arsenal in the 3-1 victory against Olympiacos on Thursday night.
The Norwegian midfielder, on loan from Real Madrid, lashed in a 25-yard thunderbolt to open the scoring in the 34th minute in the first leg of their last-16 Europa League tie.
Afterwards Odegaard insisted he has ‘felt at home since the first day’ of his loan spell at the Emirates Stadium.
Martin Odegaard scored his first goal for Arsenal in their 3-1 victory against Olympiacos
‘It was a big win for us. It’s a great result,’ he said. ‘Three goals away from home and a win in this competition is always big. The way we strike back after the goal we concede and the mentality in this team is great so I am happy with everything.
‘It shows the spirit in the team and the way we back each other. One player makes a mistake and then we react and we know we have to get a goal and that is what being a team is about. We have to strike back as a team and that is what we did today.
‘I wanted to get a shot on goal and luckily I had a good hit and it went in. It was an important goal and I am happy. I have felt at home since the first day. I am happy to be here and I feel great. I am happy to be part of the team.’
Arsenal face Tottenham in the north London derby before the return leg against Olympiacos next Thursday.
The Norwegian midfielder lashed in a 25-yard thunderbolt in the 34th minute on Thursday
Odegaard added: ‘It’s just half time so we have to keep going. We have a big game on Sunday and then a big game on Thursday so we have to keep going.
‘It’s very important, we are not where we want to be in the league so this is a very important competition for us this season, we want to go as far as possible. It’s a good result and it gives us a lot of confidence going into the weekend and next week and something to build on for next week.’
Arsenal legend Martin Keown said Odegaard could become a key player for Mikel Arteta if he cuts out the mistakes.
He told BT Sport: ‘He’s a really interesting player for Arteta. He talks about the team a lot, he doesn’t really talk about himself, the spotlight has been on him since he was 16 and maybe he should be talking about himself more.
‘He talked about being frightened to make mistakes he has got to forget about it. There is something there under the bonnet, we saw that with his strike, but there were mistakes in his game.’
