Martin Odegaard said that his successful penalty kick during pre-season made him confident in asking Bukayo Saka to take Arsenal’s important penalty in their victory against Crystal Palace last night.
The Gunners had to try really hard to keep winning all their games in the new Premier League season. They won the game because their captain stayed calm and scored a penalty kick.
Odegaard scored a penalty in the 53rd minute, tricking Sam Johnstone by shooting the opposite way, after Eddie Nketiah was tripped by the Palace goalkeeper.
Saka took all of Arsenal’s penalty kicks in the Premier League last season. Unfortunately, he famously missed an important penalty kick during a 2-2 draw against West Ham, which led to Arsenal’s downfall towards the end of the season.
The England player missed the goal in a match against Barcelona last month. Although he scored a goal in the Community Shield win against Manchester City, Odegaard decided to take control and take the penalty kick at Selhurst Park because he has been successful in previous games against teams like Manchester United, Monaco, and City.
Arteta says we should use a timer to prevent wasting time consistently after our victory at Palace.
“We practiced a lot before the season started and I scored all of my shots. So, I asked Saka if I could take the responsibility of shooting, and he agreed. I am grateful to him for that. ”
Manager Mikel Arteta said he was surprised when Saka let Odegaard take the penalty kick instead.
I don’t know much, but it’s about players leading and deciding if it’s the right thing to do. Personally, I’m okay with it.
They need to make those choices during the game. I was really surprised, just like everyone else was, but he managed to score the goal, which was the most important thing, and because of that, we ended up winning the game.
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