Martin Odegaard's second-half goal gave Arsenal a 1-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates on Saturday, a result that sends Mikel Arteta's side into the international break six points clear at the top of the Premier League, according to Arseblog News. The captain struck on 71 minutes, reacting quickest after Noni Madueke's shot was spilled by the Hull goalkeeper, and it proved enough on an afternoon when Arsenal created plenty but converted little.

It was a ninth league win in ten games this season, and Arseblog notes it leaves the side on 27 points from a possible 30.

Odegaard pounces after long siege

Arseblog recorded 21 shots from Arsenal, ten of them on target, for the single goal. Much of the first half was played in and around the Hull box without the precision to match the possession, with Gabriel close to reaching a Madueke cross that was flicked towards the back post and Declan Rice sending a free kick tamely at the keeper before a late header he might have done better with.

The clearest opening before the break fell to Kai Havertz, who was sent clean through one on one by an Odegaard pass but tried to work the ball onto a better angle rather than shoot and was tackled. Football.London, which rated Havertz 5/10, said he "should've just taken the chance on".

Arsenal increasingly used Madueke as an outlet down the right after the interval, and it was his shot that created the opener. Football.London gave Madueke 8/10 for persistence that "eventually eroded down the Tigers", while Odegaard took 9/10. BBC Sport's ratings piece was headlined on the captain's "eye-catching" display.

Rice was replaced by Mikel Merino around the hour, having earlier tumbled through the air after a midfield challenge that Arseblog felt the referee ignored, and Viktor Gyokeres came on for Havertz.

Confusion over the penalty that wasn't

The first half also brought a lengthy VAR episode. Havertz complained vociferously after going down, play continued, and the referee was then directed to the pitchside monitor, with most inside the ground expecting a penalty to be awarded. Instead, Arseblog reports, the official ruled there had been a foul but that Havertz was offside. It later emerged, Arseblog adds, that a penalty should have been given, with the rule described as "open to interpretation".

Football.London announced that Farai Hallam was the referee who went to the monitor to rule on an offside, adding that the incident "will be discussed long into the week".

Arteta: not efficient enough

Arteta was content with the outcome rather than the finishing. "I'm delighted with the win," he said, per Arseblog. "To go into the international break with a win is one of the best things about being a coach or player, I would say."

He added that Arsenal "weren't efficient enough" to take their chances and had to rely on "generating volume, plenty of persisting until we finally broke them down". Of the goal, he said: "Not the most beautiful one, but the most effective one, a simple 'shoot and then follow the next action', and that was ultimately enough to win the game."

Familiar margin

Arseblog described Arsenal as "the masters of the single goal margin win" and admitted some concern that the lack of attacking potency could cost the side later in the campaign, while stressing that this is a team that knows how to win. Arseblog News readers were split in the comments, several praising the control and the clean sheet, others wishing for more ruthlessness in the final third.

Football.London's ratings also handed 5/10 to Christos Tzolis and Eberechi Eze, with David Raya, Riccardo Calafiori and Merino on 6/10.

Arsenal are next in action after the break, away to Newcastle United at St. James' Park on Saturday 21 November, with a 17:30 kick-off.

Photo: Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, resized.