Mikel Arteta told Martin Odegaard to celebrate how he wants – as long as he can deal with the ‘consequences’ – after the midfielder placed his hands over his ears while reacting to his goal in Arsenal’s 5-0 victory over Burnley.
Odegaard opened the scoring with a powerful strike into the bottom corner in only the fourth minute at Turf Moor, before Bukayo Saka joined the fun with goals either side of half-time.
Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz further increased the deficit to put the visitors out of sight in a one-sided second half and the result moved Arteta’s men within two points of leaders Liverpool, who won at Brentford in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
It’s the first time ever that Arsenal have scored five or more goals in back-to-back away matches in the Premier League, with the north London giants thumping West Ham 6-0 on the road last time out.
The Gunners return to Champions League action away at Porto on Wednesday before welcoming Newcastle to the Emirates next weekend, where they will look to extend their winning streak to six in the English top flight.
Odegaard was on the receiving end of some criticism in the wake of Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat of Liverpool earlier this month, as Jamie Carragher accused the Norwegian of over-celebrating and milking the moment – telling him to ‘just get down the tunnel’.
But it didn’t appear to affect Odegaard this weekend, with the Arsenal captain placing his hands over his ears – presumably to indicate that he was blocking out all outside noise – while celebrating his well-taken opener.
Asked about the significance of Odegaard’s pointed celebration, Arteta told reporters: ‘I don’t know. I didn’t notice that he made that gesture.
‘But he was really happy in the dressing room with the way he played again today. I think he was exceptional.
‘I don’t think he needs to send any message. He needs to be himself and he needs to do what he feels. And if he feels to do something, do it and deal with the consequences because some people are going to like it and some people won’t.’
Arteta said Odegaard appeared to have hit his stride both mentally and physically after the Arsenal captain took his goalscoring tally to eight in all competitions for the season.
The 25-year-old also provided the assist for Saka’s second strike with a clever pass shortly after half-time at Turf Moor.
‘I think confidence-wise he’s in a really good moment,’ the Arsenal head coach added.
‘Physically as well the way he’s applied himself defending and attacking.
‘The connection and the movement that he gives us on that right hand side it’s really good. He’s hitting form.’
The Spaniard said his attacking players were feeling great ‘tranquility’ in front of goal.
‘We are showing a high efficiency in front of goal at the minute,’ he went on.
‘The players up front feel really connected at the moment. It gives us much more tranquility.’
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