Alan Shearer reacts to Martin Odegaard’s display against Aston Villa

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Alan Shearer has told Match of the Day that Martin Odegaard was wonderful in the second-half of Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa on Saturday, and lauded the captain for the way he bounced back from a terrible miss.

The Gunners are back on top in the Premier League table. But they certainly gave their supporters a further scare at Villa Park, falling behind on two occasions before scoring twice in stoppage-time to snatch the three points.

Arsenal were lacklustre in the first-half. And they could have few complaints with the scoreline. But they looked to be a different animal after the break. And one of those who stepped their game up significantly was Odegaard.

Shearer praises Odegaard after Arsenal win

The Norwegian set up Oleksandr Zinchenko for the equaliser. And he was back to pulling the strings.

Remarkably, Odegaard managed seven key passes during the game. According to Whoscored, no other player on the pitch managed more than two. And Villa did not manage seven between them.

There was one nightmare for the 24-year-old in the second-half as he missed a glorious chance. However, Shearer was full of praise for the way he took the game by the scruff of the neck – and did not let that miss get his head down.

“They didn’t panic. They started getting on the ball more, started creating more. Then they get back to 2-2 with Zinchenko. And everyone wants the ball then, particularly this guy, Odegaard, who I thought had a wonderful second-half. He started to do that, find passes, going in behind,” he told Match of the Day.

“It should be in the back of the net. But that didn’t stop him, that miss.

“That didn’t stop him, by the way, because I think he actually got better after that, which tells you his mentality. He wasn’t frightened to go and get on the ball still.”

It was an astonishing effort from Arsenal, and from Odegaard. When you consider the run they have been on, many would have been tempted to write them off once they went 2-1 down.

They did get a slice of luck. Jorginho’s stoppage-time effort ended up going in off Emi Martinez. But Arsenal will feel that they deserved that fortune after some of the decisions they have dealt with in recent times.

Arsenal looked weary in that first-half. But that comeback after the break showed that there is plenty of fight left in Mikel Arteta’s men.