Arsenal 1-0 Hull: Odegaard breaks resistance as Leeds beat Spurs
Arsenal needed until the 72nd minute and a Martin Odegaard goal to beat Hull and go six points clear at the top. Leeds beat Tottenham amid a VAR row, while Fulham and Newcastle drew 1-1.
Ballon Viral · Published
Arsenal had to suffer, but Arsenal won. Against newly promoted Hull City, who defended stubbornly for more than an hour at the Emirates, the Premier League leaders won 1-0 thanks to their captain Martin Odegaard. It was the Gunners' ninth win in ten league games. On the same day, Tottenham lost at Leeds and Fulham snatched a late draw with Newcastle.
Odegaard finds the gap on 72 minutes
For a long time this looked like a trap. Hull lined up with five at the back, closed every space and almost struck first. Elliot Stroud forced David Raya into a fine save early on and John Egan headed narrowly wide. At the other end Kai Havertz missed a one-on-one, and Arsenal lacked fluency after three demanding away trips in a row.
Mikel Arteta turned to his bench. Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyokeres came on, then Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie. Three minutes after that second double change, Hull finally cracked. In the 72nd minute, Greek goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis parried a shot from Noni Madueke and Odegaard reacted first, dinking the rebound over him. The Norwegian had not scored since his run of four goals in five games between August and September.
Madueke could have settled it late on after a clever backheel from Merino sent him through, but Tzolakis won that duel too.
A VAR call that angered Arteta
Just before half-time Arsenal appealed for a penalty. Nobel Mendy pulled Kai Havertz's shirt in the box and referee Farai Hallam did signal a foul. After a long review, though, VAR spotted Havertz offside by a few centimetres earlier in the move, and Hull were given a free kick. Arteta made no secret of his anger. According to Sky Sports, former referee Mike Dean believes Arsenal should have had the penalty, because Havertz was not challenging for the ball when he was offside.
It echoed last week's game at Liverpool, where Jurrien Timber escaped punishment for a similar shirt pull. Hull coach Sergej Jakirovic preferred to praise his players: "We were brave, especially in the defensive phase."
A rock-solid defence
The number that will please Arteta most is at the back. Arsenal kept their seventh clean sheet in ten Premier League games and have conceded only five league goals this season. They have now gone 444 minutes without conceding in the Premier League. All of that without William Saliba, out since the start of the season with a back problem, and without Bukayo Saka, sidelined for several weeks.
Leeds stop Tottenham, VAR in the spotlight again
Earlier in the day at Elland Road, Leeds beat Tottenham 1-0. Substitute Noah Okafor scored 97 seconds after coming on, in the 79th minute. Dominic Calvert-Lewin flicked on a throw-in, Harry Wilson laid it into the Swiss forward's path and he drove it home. It was Leeds' first win in six games, lifting them to eighth, and their first clean sheet against Spurs in 17 meetings.
