After an even first half in which Bukayo Saka sent Arsenal into the lead, the hosts plunged into attack in search of an equaliser. From the 52nd to the 58th minute, the home team created three great chances: Amahl Pellegrino and Ola Solbakken initially both had good opportunities to finish, but the ball went into Matt Turner’s clutches and a few centimeters over the goal. Then “whole” Aspmyra thought that Runar Espejord was going to score. Hugo Vetlesen chested the ball down to the striker, who was allowed to shoot unpressured from ten metres. However, the ball went sky high over the goal. After the third chance in a short time, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta responded by replacing Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli. KEEP AWAY: Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. Photo: CARL RECINE / Reuters The home team continued to put pressure on the visitors, but the yellow shirts were unable to hit the final pass or finish. Three minutes into overtime, the hosts got the ball in the goal after the last corner kick of the game. However, the referee had then blown a free kick in favor of Matt Turner when Nikita Haikin was too tough in the clean goalkeeper duel. Thus, it was only the goal that was missing for Kjetil Knutsen’s men on Thursday evening. Cold shower before the break The home team also delivered a far better first round at Aspmyra than in London. The guests controlled much of the game, but Glimt got more and more into the game and created several near-chances. In what was shaping up to be a good Glimt period, it struck at the other end in the 24th minute. Bukayo Saka got free in the penalty area when Marius Høibråten threw himself down and blocked the finish. However, the ball hit Saka’s chest and bounced back over the goal line behind an outstretched Haikin. THE VERDICT: Bukayo Saka scored with his chest after being hit by the clearance. Photo: CARL RECINE / Reuters Glimt continued to attack despite the cold shower, but there were only almost the big scoring chances. After 39 minutes, Hugo Vetlesen followed up with a lovely lob against Runar Espejord. The striker was only a couple of shoe sizes away from getting a toe on the ball and what could quickly become an equaliser. The forward should therefore have a far greater opportunity to equalise, but it was only almost for the home team on Thursday night. Warning Many people have suffered from Aspmyra in the last two years. Before Thursday’s game, Bodø/Glimt had a total of 14 straight home wins in Europe. Therefore, despite the 3-0 loss in London, there were many in Bodø who had hopes of chastising the Premier League leaders on their own artificial turf. – The biggest trap is talking too much about artificial grass and using excuses about it, and the weather and everything. I feel that is the biggest trap you can fall into, said captain Martin Ødegaard before the match. Arsenal retained four players in the 11 from the 3-2 victory over Liverpool: Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Ben White. Ulrik Saltnes tried from the start after struggling with a bad hamstring, but the 29-year-old couldn’t last more than 12 minutes. The whole of Aspmyra got up when Saltnes shuffled off the field in favor of Albert Grønbæk. Thursday’s victory means that Arsenal have a very solid grip on the group victory. Bodø/Glimt now have two key matches left: FC Zürich (away, 27 October) and PSV (home, 3 November).
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Glimpses of a stampede when Arsenal escaped the horror – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
