{"id":14749,"date":"2026-11-07T22:09:34","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T22:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14749"},"modified":"2026-11-07T22:09:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T22:09:34","slug":"hey-noni-yes-madueke-and-odegaard-pilot-arsenal-to-a-narrow-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=14749","title":{"rendered":"Hey Noni – Yes! Madueke and \u00d8degaard Pilot Arsenal to a Narrow Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the pre- match comments by various Holics I sensed a pessimism about this game I didn’t feel. I was confident of a comfortable victory but this win was far from comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had the pleasure of a pre- match Guinness with BtM and we sat down to watch a starting eleven that was identical to the one that began the game at Anfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes title-winning teams have to win ugly. and our narrow victory today was a case in point, as Mikel Arteta\u2019s side needed patience, persistence and a moment of quality to overcome a stubborn visiting defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the interlull\u00a0approaching, we knew that three points would strengthen our position at the top of the Premier League. We eventually got the job done, but Hull made us work considerably harder than many had anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hull arrived\u00a0with a clear plan: defend in numbers, restrict Arsenal\u2019s space, press high and look for opportunities on the counterattack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The visitors made life uncomfortable for the league leaders from the outset. Arsenal enjoyed plenty of possession but struggled to turn their territorial dominance into clear-cut opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hull even threatened, themselves, forcing David Raya into some important interventions. Stroud particularly tested the Arsenal goalkeeper with a dangerous effort from a tight angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the other end, Declan Rice came closest to breaking the deadlock with a shot from the edge of the area, while their impressive goalkeeper,\u00a0Tzolakis, proved a difficult obstacle for the Arsenal forwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal also thought they had a penalty when Kai Havertz was pulled back in the area, but a VAR review determined that the striker had been offside. This whole episode was poorly communicated to the crowd in the way that VAR reviews so often are, and in the stadium we were only shown one of those weird diagrams to show Havertz was offside. Kai had another stinker of a game rivalling his performance at Fleetwood – it was all a far cry from his winner at Anfield.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice went close with a drive from distance but we lacked penetration. Bruno was ponderous on the ball and had one nightmare moment where he almost gave the ball away in the Arsenal box. Hull were compact, the referee a tad pedantic\u00a0and only Madueke looked remotely likely to break the deadlock.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The half-time whistle arrived with the Gunners still searching for a breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half -time: Arsenal 0 – 0 Hull\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We began the second half with intent but our passing was generally laboured and Tzolis couldn’t get much change out of the right side of the Hull defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta recognised that changes were needed and introduced Viktor Gy\u00f6keres and Mikel Merino before bringing Eberechi Eze into the action. Havertz, Rice and Tzolis departed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The substitutions added fresh energy, but Arsenal still needed that elusive moment of quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It finally arrived in the 72nd minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Noni Madueke drove towards goal and unleashed a shot which Tzolakis could only parry. Martin \u00d8degaard, displaying the anticipation and instinct which make him such an influential player, reacted quickest to turn the rebound into the net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal 1 – 0 Hull – \u00d8degaard, 72 mins\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Emirates erupted in relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal had finally found a way through, and their captain had delivered when it mattered most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gunners might have added a second as Hull began to tire, with Madueke threatening again, when he really should have scored after being put through by Eze but one goal proved sufficient. Arsenal’s defensive shape made it very hard for Hull to create anything and Konsa and Gabriel were particularly \u00a0obdurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not Arsenal at their most fluent or spectacular. Hull deserve considerable credit for their organisation and determination, and the visitors will feel that their performance merited something more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Arsenal have increasingly demonstrated an ability to win matches when their attacking football is not at its best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full time: Arsenal 1 – 0 Hull<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clean sheet was another positive, while \u00d8degaard\u2019s decisive contribution underlined the importance of having players capable of producing something special in difficult circumstances. Madueke produced a decent impersonation of Saka today and Konsa was impeccable. He is going to be very hard to drop when Willie Saliba returns. But our other two signings Bruno and Tzolis did not impress although Bruno had a better second half. Havertz doesn’t look like a top quality striker on days like this. He seems to be \u00a0a big game player which is very useful to have but we really do need more threat upfront.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The victory takes Arsenal to 27 points from their opening ten league matches, matching their best-ever start to a Premier League season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal supporters may have hoped for a more comfortable afternoon, but nobody will be complaining about the result. Champions are often defined not by their spectacular victories, but by their ability to find a way through matches like this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the pre- match comments by various Holics I sensed a pessimism about this game I didn’t feel. I was confident of a comfortable victory but this win was far from comfortable. I had the pleasure of a pre- match Guinness with BtM and we sat down to watch a starting eleven that was identical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14749"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14749"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14757,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14749\/revisions\/14757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}