Mikel Arteta reveals Arsenal half-time message after narrow Hull City win

Mikel Arteta said he told his Arsenal players at half-time that they would eventually score if they continued to perform in the same way during their 1-0 victory over Hull City.

Arsenal secured an important win in the 10th round of the Premier League at Emirates Stadium, with Martin Odegaard scoring his first league goal after 16 consecutive matches without finding the net.

The result moved Arsenal to 27 points at the top of the Premier League table, while Hull City remained on 11 points in 13th place.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Arsenal manager Arteta praised his players for the way they had performed since the previous international break.

“I am very happy with the performance and the victory,” said the Spanish manager. “I think it is time to praise my players. What they have done since the last international break has been incredible.”

Arsenal continued to create opportunities but were unable to add to their advantage for much of the match. Arteta acknowledged that his side lacked the decisive touch in front of goal before eventually making the difference.

“We had to wait and be patient in the final minutes of the match to make the difference and get the win,” he said. “We continued to create chances, but we lacked the final touch.”

Arteta also explained the message he delivered to his players during the interval.

“I told the players at half-time that if things continued in this way, we would score at some point,” he said.

The Arsenal manager was also asked about a penalty appeal that was not awarded to his side after the referee was sent to the video monitor.

“I do not know,” Arteta said. “When they called the referee to review the video, I thought it was a penalty, but I later heard that the decision was made because there was an offside.”

Odegaard’s goal ended a run of 16 successive Premier League appearances without scoring.

The Norway international was also one of only two players to have created five or more chances in more than one Premier League match this season. The other is Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest.