- Arsenal secured a crucial 2-0 victory over Luton Town on Wednesday
- Arsenal have moved to the top of the Premier League standings with 68 points, just one above Liverpool and Manchester City who occupy second and third place respectively
On Wednesday, Arsenal secured a crucial 2-0 victory over Luton Town during their Arsenal vs Luton fixture.
Despite being without leading scorer Bukayo Saka, Arsenal started the match strongly and were in front after 24 minutes, thanks to captain Martin Odegaard’s well taken strike. Luton Town defender Daiki Hashioka then scored an own goal shortly before the break to seal the win for Mikel Arteta’s side who held Manchester City to a goalless draw at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal vs Luton Town. Photo/ RTE.
Arsenal have moved to the top of the Premier League standings with 68 points after the victory over Luton. However, they are just one point above Liverpool and Manchester City who occupy second and third place respectively. Liverpool will be looking forward to reclaim the top spot today (Thursday) as they host Sheffield United at Anfield Stadium. City beat Aston Villa 4-1 on Wednesday night to move level on points with Liverpool.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta had made several changes to his squad that faced Luton, including starts for Emile Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard. Speaking after the match, Arteta praised his fringe players for playing well.
“I look at our squad in a different way, I want to maximize what we have. They [fringe players] have to play. They responded so well, good confidence, physically with rhythm and they’re going to be really important for us. When they have a moment they have to take it – they give me every reason every day [to pick them]. I was confident they would respond.” Mikel Arteta said after the Arsenal vs Luton match, according to Sky Sports.
Next up for Arsenal is Brighton at Amex Stadium on Saturday. They will then face Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on April 9th (Tuesday) in the UEFA Champions League at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal vs Luton
Aiming to maintain their charge for a first English Premier League title since 2004, Arsenal were dominant against Luton Town from the early stages of the match. They enjoyed plenty of possession and had their efforts rewarded in the 24th minute when Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz linked up well before the Gunners captain found the back of the net. It was Odegaard’s tenth goal of the season.
Title-chasing Arsenal continued to control the match but almost found themselves level after a misunderstanding between Gabriel and Zinchenko offered Fred Onyedinma a golden opportunity to score. However, the Nigerian failed to capitalize.
Arsenal doubled their lead in the 44th minute when Daiki Hashioka unknowingly directed Smith Rowe’s cutback into his own net. Being 2-0 up at half time, Mikel Arteta’s men were happy to just pass the ball around in the second half of the Arsenal vs Luton match. Saka missed Arsenal’s match due to an injury he sustained over the weekend as the Gunners played Manchester City.
Captain Martin Odegaard scored his tenth goal of the season last night as Arsenal beat Luton Town 2-0 at Emirates Stadium. Photo/ NewsBytes.
Luton boss Rob Edwards introduced Tahith Chong in the 54th minute to increase his side’s attacking threat but that made little difference. Luton are currently in danger of being relegated at the end of the season as they are currently 18th on the standings. Also, they have serious injuries such that 16-year-old schoolboy Christian Chigozie, who plays as a defender, had a place on the substitutes bench.
The Hatters have not won any of their last 10 Premier League matches, with their last victory coming against Brighton in December. Their impressive run of scoring in 18 consecutive league matches was halted by Arsenal last night. Luton will host Bournemouth at Kenilworth Road on Saturday before travelling to the Etihad on April 13th where they’ll face Premier League defending champions Manchester City.
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