After finding a rather tricky life in the Basque Country two weeks ago, Arsenal, who won 2-0 against the Athletic Club, began working hard for his Champions League victory.
Welcoming Olympiacos to Emirates Stadium and meeting the Greek champions for the 13th in 15 years, they were a difficult aspect to get better, but as they did in Bilbao, Mikel Arteta’s men again won a 2-0 victory.
The Gunners struggled to create clear opportunities to score from the second half, but in reality, it was a game where they were able to win with four or five goals.
In the opening 45 minutes, the Londoners took the electricity, scoring Gabriel Martinelli early, before Bucayo Saka finishing things up late.
Although not a scoresheet, the biggest positive out of the night was definitely skipper Martin Odegard’s performance.
After suffering an ankle injury in an international duties more than a year ago, the Norwegian returned to his best in Europe on Wednesday, delivering a masterclass performance from the middle of the park.
It was Odegard who supplied Saka’s goals, and it was the club captain who played the ball behind in the build-up to the opener.
It’s a joy to see him flow in full again and he’s now essential as he aims to go deeper into this year’s competition. So far they have six to six points, but in the third week game, Atletico Madrid is especially waiting for them.
Speaking of Odegaard, there’s no doubt that Viktor Gyoker is happy that he’s back to his side.
Viktor Gyoker’s numbers and Olympiacos performance
Honestly, this was a difficult beginning in life for the huge Swedes in North London.
At Sports CP last season, he scored 54 goals to show off his qualifications. The three were against Manchester City in this competition.
However, with Arsenal’s colours, he was unable to demonstrate the same level of clinicality within the penalty area.
Gyokeres scored three times. The two went into two games in one game with Leeds United, but there’s a sense that he needs to work on the final action.
He had six shots against Newcastle on Sunday, but none of them felt too clean. The truth is that he is spending too much time robbing his efforts.
However, summer arrivals have improved. The very fact he was threatening last weekend is proof of that.
Against the Olympiacos, the 27-year-old still put his best non-scoring display for Arsenal. Finally gave him space behind him, he was unlucky to not score several times.
His first goal advance play was sublime. Odegaard fed the ball back and Gyoker advanced, crashing past two defenders and earning a shot coming out of the post.
Luckily, Martinelli was ready and waiting for him to tap the rebound to an empty net.
Gyokeres was a happy runner for most of the game and was discovered very regularly by informant Odegaard. It can be communicated that the chemistry between Arsenal’s leading creators and their new strikers is actually improving.
It’s hard to judge him too much. Visits to Old Trafford, Anfield and St James Park have been historically tricky and easy to put up for the future, and the Swedish superstar looks like he’s growing confidently at just the right time.
It remains to be seen whether he will continue to replicate some of Arsenal’s greatest strikers of the past. He has the number 14 worn famously by Thierry Henry and later Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
Even like Robin Van Persy and Overba, there were no gunner strikers who lifted the Premier League since Henry’s time. Perhaps now is the year they will eventually do so.
To withstand that opportunity, they need Odegard and Gyoker in the best form, but they also need to find ways to get more ways from future Van Persy.
Arteta could be brewing the next Van Persy at Arsenal
Van Perie, a scorer of over 30 goals in one campaign in Arsene Wenger’s era, is an ac-heavy center forward, and Gyoker definitely wants to emulate him.
But one player who already appears to be ready to emulate the great Dutchman is Martinelli.
The Brazilians endured several years of stickiness. In 2022/23 he finished the term as a co-top scorer alongside Saka and Odegaard, but he hasn’t replicated it since.
He still looks a bit ti-ill in 2025/26, but even with limited game times he’s still finding his foot again.
Martinelli started on Wednesday evening for the fourth and fourth of the season so far, but he counted it and scored the first goal of the game.
The 24-year-old certainly scored three goals with his last four, the most important of which came against Manchester City, delicately lobing Gianluigi Donnaruma in the citizens’ net.
All of his goals this season have come from the central region so far, which could help the Brazilians in the coming years.
For years, Martinelli has been a wide-ranging advance. These 15 goals for 2022/23 came from the left flank, but there are strikers waiting to be released. His record as an out-and-out center forward is better than any other position, although from a small sample size.
Martinelli careers by position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
position | game | the goal | assist |
Left wing | 186 | 40 | 26 |
Right wing | 18 | 3 | 3 |
striker | 16 | 9 | 0 |
total | 220 | 52 | 29 |
Statistics through the transfer market. | |||
There is evidence as he scored nine goals in 16 games. He is a very threatening striker. He has the pace and has the ability to run behind. Bilbao’s goal a few weeks ago showed that he doesn’t have a defender who is fast enough to catch up that The goal against City is based on another running courtesy behind the defense from the central position.
Interestingly, it also received a lot of joy from Martinelli, as a central attacker. In his debut year in the UK in 2019/20, he found the net in seven times in nine games as a centre forward.
So why compare it to Van Persy? Well, when the Dutch icon first signed Arsenal, he did so as a wide player. Like Martinelli, he was traditionally a left winger.
That said, Wenger’s plan is always to turn him into a striker, and he did just that.
Van Persy may not have had Martinelli’s pace, but his finishing ability was amazing. At Arsenal, the Flying Dutchman registered 132 goals in 278 matches, solidifying himself as one of the best players to wear a famous shirt. It was a great success story for Wenger.
Now, in 2025, Arteta must take leaves from the French book. Brazil International may have appeared on the wings on Wednesday night, but as Van Persy did, he sees more of the house in the centre.
After the arrival of Ebebeki Eze and Noni Madueke this summer, Arsenal’s No. 11 always found it difficult to get off to a regular start, but Kai Helbertz and Gyoker are still speeding up.
