Arsenal captain, Martin Odegaard, admitted that his team had to play a lot of defense when they drew with Manchester City in the 30th match of the 2023-2024 Premier League. Even though there are only nine matches left, he believes the Gunners’ journey to the title is still long.
Playing at the Etihad Stadium, Monday 31 March 2024, Arsenal and Manchester City played a goalless draw. These results meant that Mikel Arteta’s men failed to continue the positive trend in the last five matches by winning.
Arsenal also had to drop to second place in the standings with 65 points. They are two points behind Liverpool who are in first place.
Odegaard admitted Arsenal had to play more defensively. Even though they were able to provide a threat through counter attacks, the visitors had difficulty maintaining possession of the ball and building attacks after defending for a long time.
“We had to defend a lot, more than we planned. We were dangerous at certain moments when we counter-attacked, but it’s difficult to keep the ball and build attacks when you defend for so long,” said Odegaard, quoted from Tribal Football, Monday (1 /4/2024).
The player from Norway believes that Arsenal still has a long way to go to win the title this season because anything can happen. He explained that his team had to work hard and get good results in every match.
“There’s still a long way to go. Many things can happen before the end of the season. We have to go game by game, that’s what we have to do. Keep working hard, keep trying and we’ll see,” he concluded.
In the next match, Arsenal will face Luton Town. The match will take place at the Emirates Stadium, Thursday 4 April 2024.
