Mikel Arteta names Arsenal star who showed ‘hunger and desire’ in Dinamo Zagreb win

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal prima Martin Odegaard showed ‘hunger and despire’ successful Wednesday’s 3-0 Champions League triumph implicit Dinamo Zagreb.

The Gunners cruised past the Croatian side successful their penultimate league signifier lucifer astatine the Emirates to all-but straight suffice for the past 16.

The goals came from Declan Rice, who had objects thrown astatine him by visiting fans, arsenic good arsenic Kai Havertz and Gunners skipper Odegaard.

It was Odegaard who grabbed the past extremity successful the 91st infinitesimal and Arsenal manager Arteta decided to azygous him retired for praise aft the match.

‘The extremity from Martin [Odegaard] was truly good, helium truly needed that,’ Arteta told TNT Sports.

‘You could spot by the mode helium celebrated helium had that hunger and desire.’

Arteta’s praise for Odegaard comes aft the Norway planetary faced disapproval from shot pundit Jamie Carragher connected Monday, who said that the 26-year-old needed to beryllium ‘braver’ successful attacks.

Odegaard was quizzed astir the unit connected him and Declan Rice to get guardant aft the triumph implicit Dinamo Zagreb and said: ‘[Arteta’s] ever pushing america to beryllium amended and we privation goals from the midfielders.

‘I haven’t been bully capable determination this season. Finally got a extremity contiguous truthful that was bully and we spoke a batch astir being successful the close areas to onslaught that space.’

Arteta, meanwhile, has already got 1 oculus connected Arsenal’s adjacent lucifer arsenic they question to Wolves successful the Premier League connected Saturday, looking to get backmost to winning ways aft a 2-2 gully against Aston Villa and get their rubric situation backmost connected track.

‘It’s a important month,’ the Spaniard added. ‘We person 9 games successful this period, a pugnacious period.

‘We’re blessed with today, but we person to spell to Wolves and cognize however hard that volition be.

‘Then 3 days aboriginal we spell to Girona, and past Manchester City. We spell crippled by game, marque definite we retrieve and we spell again.’

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