Martin Odegaard explains the two reasons behind Arsenal’s win vs Newcastle amid special claim

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard admits his side had to ‘fight until the end’ as they kept their Premier League title hopes alive with a 2-0 win over Newcastle at St James’ Park.

The Norwegian netted his 15th league goal of the season after firing a well-placed effort past Nick Pope on 14 minutes.

A fiesty affair ended with Arsenal wrapping up the win in the second half as Fabian Schar turned in Gabriel Martinelli's cross into his own net.

Odegaard spoke after the game about the fighting spirit his team showed as they clawed Manchester City’s lead at the top of the league table to one point.

“We showed something special here today,” he said.

“To come here and win is not easy. We had to be very smart and to be ugly at times. It is a big step for a young team like ours to come here and do the things we did. It shows we have come a long way.

“Last year here was one of the toughest days of my career, to be honest. After dropping points against Man City, to win against Chelsea and then come here and win shows the mentality. We have to keep going and digging in and fight until the end. It is football, anything can happen and we need to be ready.”

Meanwhile, Jorginho lauded the atmosphere at St James’ Park and reiterated Odegaard’s comments about not giving up.

“The most important thing is that we go home with three points, as we wanted. We know this league, we know we can’t win every game playing beautiful football. I am really pleased to see that our team can play these type of games and understand it is not always possible to just go through with passes. Sometimes you need to fight. I am proud to see us fight to the end.

“This atmosphere is so beautiful. It motivates us to play and gives us fire inside. I have played a few [big games] before. We dream this as a kid and now it is time to enjoy it, it is beautiful.”