Bodo/Glimt 0 Arsenal 1: Bukayo Saka scores winner and all-but secures Gunners’ spot in Europa League knockout stages
BUKAYO SAKA kept the Arsenal juggernaut rolling as Mikel Arteta’s ruthless team of winners sent out another powerful message of intent.
And it really is a case of All or Nothing for a team who have not drawn a single game since January and absolutely refuse to settle for anything less than three points these days.
Saka’s 24th minute strike was enough to leave the Gunners in total control of their Europa League destiny with three group games still to play.
And even Bodo’s immaculate record at their Arctic Circle home proved no obstacle for the unstoppable Arsenal bandwagon.
The Norwegian champions had won their previous 14 European games at the Aspmyra Stadium, a record not bettered since 2017 when Barcelona won 15 in a row at the Nou Camp.
Yet Arteta refused to play it safe on the infamous artificial pitch and reaped the rewards for boldly going with an unexpectedly strong side which included first team regulars Martin Odegaard, William Saliba, Ben White and Kieran Tierney as well as Saka.
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The last time Odegaard played here in Bodo, he was a 15-year-old Stromsgodset prodigy on the brink of signing for Real Madrid.
Eight years later he is now the Norway captain and second only to Erling Haaland in his nation’s affections.
In fact he is so popular here in his home land that Bodo had to ask their fans to leave their red and white scarves at home for the night.
And he didn’t disappoint his army of admirers as he turned on the style to lead Arsenal safely through this potential minefield.
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Arteta had warned his players that this could be the toughest of all their group games and with a pre-match downpour making the pitch even slicker there was plenty of cause for concern.
But it soon emerged that they didn’t need to worry when Saka opened the scoring midway through the first-half to shift the visitors into cruise control.
A swift exchange of passes with Albert Sambi Lokonga opened up the Bodfo defence and though Marius Hoibraten dived in to make a block he was powerless to prevent the ball from rebounding off Saka’s chest past wrong-footed keeper Nikita Haikin.
At least Saka had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed by his slice of fortune, even if he had absolutely nothing to apologise for.
Yet it wasn’t all plain sailing for the visitors, who had to see off a spirited second-half fightback from determined opponents who were not going to give up easily on their European ambitions.
Keeper Matt Turner had to be alert to keep out a low 56th minute shot from Amahl Pellegrino following Lokonga’s careless loss of possession.
So when Ola Solbakken and Runar Espejord both squandered decent opportunities to level, Arteta was taking no chances and sent on Granit Xhaka. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Martinelli to add some extra backbone.
Yet Arsenal continued to invite pressure by giving the ball away cheaply and know they cannot afford to switch off like this in the coming months if they are going to go all the way in this competition.