Arsenal edge Napoli as Martin Ødegaard maintains perfect start

Arsenal maintained their perfect start to the 2026-27 season as Martin Ødegaard’s second-half goal secured a 1-0 Champions League victory over Napoli in Naples.

The Norwegian settled a tightly contested match in the 75th minute, turning neatly inside the Napoli penalty area before driving a low shot into the far corner. It was Ødegaard’s fourth goal in his past five games and proved enough to earn Arsenal another significant win.

The Premier League champions have now won all five of their matches this season, having followed their run to last season’s Champions League final with a commanding start to the new campaign.

Arsenal controlled much of the opening half but struggled to find a way through Napoli’s disciplined defence. Bukayo Saka attempted an ambitious overhead kick early on, although Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret gathered comfortably.

Kevin De Bruyne and Matteo Politano both tested David Raya with efforts from distance, but neither shot seriously threatened the Arsenal goalkeeper.

The visitors went closest to breaking the deadlock before the interval when Mikel Merino connected with Eberechi Eze’s clever knockdown. His close-range header appeared destined for the net, but Meret reacted sharply to tip the ball over the crossbar.

Meret was required to make another difficult save shortly before half-time after Piero Hincapie’s attempted cross almost caught him out. The Napoli goalkeeper had to move quickly across his goal to prevent the ball from finding the far corner.

However, Meret was unable to continue after the interval because of an injury, with Vanja Milinkovic-Savic replacing him.

Napoli continued to frustrate Arsenal in the second half, but Hincapie missed a valuable opportunity for the visitors when he fired over from six yards.

Arsenal eventually found the breakthrough after patient attacking play inside the Napoli box. Ødegaard created the necessary space and placed his shot beyond the goalkeeper to give Mikel Arteta’s side the lead.

Napoli were unable to produce a sustained response and failed to create the chances required to claim a point. The defeat leaves new manager Max Allegri facing a third consecutive loss.

Arteta was pleased with the nature of Arsenal’s display, although he believed the scoreline understated his side’s superiority.

“We fully deserved the three points,” Arteta told TNT Sports. “The performance probably doesn’t reflect the result, the team was superb.

“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 but we got the win in the end.”

The Arsenal manager also highlighted Ødegaard’s increasing contribution in front of goal.

“Martin is contributing with goals that are impacting results which is what we want from our attacking players,” he said.

“We want them to be decisive and certainly he was again today.”

Arteta said he was particularly pleased with the character Arsenal showed at one of Europe’s most difficult venues.

“I’m very, very happy,” he said. “A really tough place to come and a really different environment to play football – a beautiful one, by the way – against a really good team.

“I love the way we attacked the game, the way we competed, the hunger that we showed, the desire to dominate, to come here, to own the pitch, and the quality that we showed against a team that it’s so difficult to create chances against.

“We created a huge amount of them and the result doesn’t reflect what we saw on the pitch.

“The players were immense, and to play with that personality, with that conviction and with that quality in the Champions League away from home, it’s something that I’m extremely pleased about.”

Arsenal’s next Champions League match will be against Ligue 1 side Lille after the international break.