(Reuters) – Arsenal’s captain, Martin Odegaard, expressed his disappointment after the team’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League on Thursday, blaming the lack of clinical finishing for the loss.
Despite having more than twice as many chances as West Ham, Arsenal failed to convert them into goals, allowing Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos to secure victory at the Emirates.
The defeat leaves Arsenal in second place with 40 points, two points behind league leaders Liverpool.
Odegaard noted, “I think we created more than enough to score goals to win the game and it was the little details and the little last pass or the finish that was missing today.”
He emphasized the need for improvement in front of the goal to avoid similar outcomes in the future. Odegaard mentioned, “We have to learn from it and make sure we get sharper and better in front of the goals.”
The captain also pointed out the team’s defensive lapses, saying, “The goals we conceded were too easy, so definitely in front of the goals, inside the boxes, that’s where the games are decided.”
Reflecting on the disappointing performance, Odegaard stated, “We weren’t good enough today… It was the last home game of the year so we wanted to finish off in style, but today wasn’t the day and we have to look at ourselves and we have to learn and move on.”
Arsenal’s next match will be an away game against 13th-placed Fulham on Sunday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru)
