Rasmus Hojlund praised Arsenal’s new-look defence after Napoli were beaten 1-0 in the Champions League last night.
The Gunners eventually made their dominance count with 15 minutes left on the clock when Martin Odegaard capped another man of the match performance with a sumptuous strike from the edge of the penalty area.
Arsenal’s margin of victory could and should have been greater but wayward finishing from the likes Bukayo Saka and Piero Hincapie meant Mikel Arteta’s side were forced to lean into their defensive strength to seal three points.
Even without without William Saliba, Cristhian Mosquera and Jurrien Timber, last season’s finalists were comfortably able to restrict the Serie A side and their former Manchester United striker.
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Summer signing Ezri Konsa gave another commanding display alongside Gabriel Magalhaes and Hojlund admitted the challenge of making an impression against Arsenal’s defence was just as formidable despite the absences of so many established stars.
‘It’s hard for me to rank them because they obviously have a lot of good defenders,’ Hojlund told TNT Sport.
‘They have Mosquera and Saliba out and they just put Konsa in and so it’s a strong side.
‘I think also Gabriel is the anchor of the team, I think he’s really, really strong he knows how to handle a duel.
‘I think I did well today even though I come off with nothing but I held up the ball well and it was good for me to try against the best of the best, even though we didn’t win.’
Overall, Arsenal created an xG of 4.31 to Napoli’s 0.21 but despite such a significant margin, Hojlund felt his side were unlucky not to come away with something tangible from the game.
Asked if he felt Napoli were worth a point, he added: ‘Yes and no. Arsenal created a lot of chances, and we were lucky to stay in the game, but we defended well.
‘We have to admit that they are currently at a higher level than us. They are the champions of England and runners-up in Europe, so we need to look at ourselves, learn from this and continue to develop.’
Arteta, meanwhile, was thrilled with a near-perfect away performance which saw his side record a fifth win from five games in all competitions this season.
He said: ‘I’m very, very happy. A really tough place to come and a really different environment to play football – a beautiful one, by the way – against a really good team.
‘I love the way we attacked the game, the way we competed, the hunger that we showed, the desire to dominate, to come here, to own the pitch, and the quality that we showed against a team that it’s so difficult to create chances against.
‘We created a huge amount of them and the result doesn’t reflect what we saw on the pitch.
‘The players were immense, and to play with that personality, with that conviction and with that quality in the Champions League away from home, it’s something that I’m extremely pleased about.’
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