EMIRATES STADIUM — Ordinarily a match where Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka are both lost to injury is a match Arsenal fans would rather forget.
But this match was anything but ordinary. The unveiling, the much-needed breakthrough, he dazzling debut.
All were extraordinary, and the fact Arsenal supporters had Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It” ringing in their heads as they left the Emirates and long into the night, well that just capped it off – for no Gooner could have seen that coming last season.
It was a carnival atmosphere, and while twice this had been threatened – when Odegaard went off in the first half and Saka in the second – the positives prevailed, heralding a noticeable mood shift that Mikel Arteta recognised afterwards.
“Today I saw something else in the stadium,” Arteta said. “It