Martin Odegaard explains why he took Arsenal’s penalty instead  Bukayo Saka against Crystal Palace

Martin Odegaard  explains why he took Arsenal’s penalty instead  Bukayo Saka against Crystal Palace

Martin Odegaard claimed that his pre-season record from the spot encouraged him to ask Bukayo Saka to take Arsenal‘s winning penalty against Crystal Palace last night.

The Gunners were forced to dig deep to maintain their perfect start to the new Premier League season, and their success was ultimately attributed to their captain’s calm from 12 yards.

Odegaard converted the penalty in the 53rd minute, sending Sam Johnstone the wrong way after Eddie Nketiah was brought down by the Palace keeper.

Saka took all of Arsenal’s Premier League penalties last season, but notoriously missed a critical spot kick during the costly 2-2 draw against West Ham, sparking his side’s collapse in the final few weeks.

The England international also missed a pre-season friendly against Barcelona last month, and despite being on target in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City, Odegaard decided to pull rank at Selhurst Park after a string of successful conversions against Manchester United, Monaco, and City.

‘We’ve been taking in pre-season a lot and I’ve scored all of mine, so I simply asked him (Saka) and he handed it to me, so I have to thank him for that one,’ explained the Arsenal captain when asked why he accepted the duty.

Meanwhile, manager Mikel Arteta acknowledged he was startled to see Saka delegate penalty-taking responsibility to Odegaard.

‘I have no idea; it’s about player leadership, and if they believed it was the correct thing to do, I’m OK.

‘Those decisions must be made on the pitch. I, like everyone else, was taken aback, but he scored the game-winning goal, and we won.’