Odegaard curler gives Arsenal win at Burnley

Martin Odegaard’s 30thminute free kick earned Arsenal their second win of the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.

The Norwegian midfielder curled the ball beautifully into the top corner of Nick Pope’s goal, helping take Mikel Arteta’s side on to six points.

The Gunners had lost their opening three games of the season but broke that poor run with a win over Norwich City last week and they will now head into next week’s North London derby with Tottenham with some confidence.

“It was a hard-fought victory at a really tough place. You have to be ready for a fight,” Arteta said.

“We have players who are not at their strength playing in this type of game, but they did their best and we got the win. I’m very proud of them defensively and I’m really pleased with the win.

“It’s two wins in a row, two clean sheets. Let’s go again. We have a lot to catch up,” he said.

Thomas Partey made his first start of the season for Arsenal and the Ghanaian’s presence, behind Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe, resulted in a more balanced look to Arteta’s midfield.

Nicolas Pepe had the first chance of the game after good work from Kieran Tierney down the left but the winger was unable to make the most of the ball into the near post.

Burnley’s Chris Wood was off target with a header when he was left unmarked in the box but Sean Dyche’s side struggled to find any fluency.

Odegaard’s free kick came after Bukayo Saka had his heels clipped by Ashley Westwood outside the area and the goal sent Arsenal in ahead at the break and left Dyche needing to find a way to shift the momentum.

The Burnley manager threw on Czech forward Matej Vydra and recent signing Maxwel Cornet and the change brought the home side and their fans to life but it was Arsenal’s day. —