Arsenal vs Brentford: Christian Norgaard praises ‘fantastic’ Martin Odegaard

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Brentford’s Christian Norgaard has labelled Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard a ‘fantastic player’ after yesterday’s clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta’s men were held to a 1-1 draw after a controversial equaliser from Ivan Toney with just over 15 minutes of the game to play. Leandro Trossard had bagged his first goal for the Gunners just eight minutes before after replacing Gabriel Martinelli. 

Arsenal were not at their best but it looked like they were on the way to grinding out an important win. But Brentford’s leveller seemingly should have been ruled out after VAR completely missed the fact that Norgaard appeared to be in an offside position before playing the ball to Toney.

Arteta was understandably frustrated after the game, but Brentford arguably deserved at least a point after a brilliant performance against the league leaders. 

The Bees managed to stifle the threats of Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Odegaard pretty well on the day. Despite a less inspired showing from Odegaard yesterday, Norgaard praised the Norwegian after the game.

Norgaard praises Odegaard

Speaking to Brentford’s official website, Norgaard shared how the Bees managed to deal with the likes of Odegaard, Saka and Martinelli.

“Of course, it’s sticking to our defensive principles and forcing it outside and trying to double up,” the midfielder said.

“Especially on players like Martinelli and Saka, we know how good they are when they get the ball wide. And then see if we could shut down Odegaard as much as possible, he’s a fantastic player and he also showed today some of the skills that he has.

“But I think in general we played a really good game and I know that sometimes from the outside it looks like we are under pressure the whole time, but we feel very comfortable and very solid in that low-block.”

Odegaard has been a standout performer for the Gunners this season and played a big part of Trossard’s opener.

The £30 million man played Saka in down the right-hand side, who produced a brilliant ball across the box to hand Trossard his first goal for Arsenal. 

The Gunners have now dropped points in each of their last two Premier League matches and they will be hoping Manchester City slip up against Aston Villa today.

But Arteta’s men will have the perfect opportunity to bounce back on Wednesday as they will host Pep Guardiola’s men in north London.