"I have no clue" - Arteta offers honest opinion on Martin Odegaard taking Arsenal penalty instead of Bukayo Saka against Crystal Palace

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has stated that he doesn't know why Martin Odegaard took a penalty for the Gunners during their match against Crystal Palace.

Arteta's men traveled to Selhurst Park for a Premier League encounter on Monday, August 21. They beat the Eagles 1-0 despite going down to 10 men midway through the second half thanks to Odegaard's 53rd-minute spot-kick.

Many were surprised with the Norwegian stepping up to take the penalty as Bukayo Saka has been Arsenal's first-choice penalty taker in recent seasons. Arteta was questioned about it after the match and offered an honest answer, saying (as quoted by Metro):

‘‘I have no clue, it’s about leadership of players, and if they felt it was the right thing to do, for me I’m fine.

‘‘They have to make those decisions on the pitch. I was surprised like everybody else, but he scored the goal which is the important thing and we won the game.’’

Arsenal notably won the penalty in the 51st minute after Palace were caught out by a quick free-kick. This led to goalkeeper Sam Johnstone fouling Eddie Nketiah in the area, with Odegaard rolling the resulting spot-kick into the bottom corner.

The Gunners notably ended the game with 10 men, with Takehiro Tomiyasu sent off in the 67th minute after receiving a second yellow card. He was booked eight minutes earlier for delaying a throw-in.

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Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka were two of Arsenal's best players against Crystal Palace

Arsenal had a number of impressive performers in their win away to Crystal Palace. Thomas Partey, William Saliba and Ben White put in tireless shifts to guard their slender advantage, especially after they were reduced to 10 men.

Further up the pitch, both Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka excelled even as Eddie Nketiah missed a couple of golden opportunities.

Apart from scoring the winner with a composed penalty, Odegaard completed 91% of his passes and laid out a key pass. He won four of his nine duels and made four tackles as well.

Saka, meanwhile, completed 80% of his passes, laid out two key passes and created one big chance. He also recorded one successful dribble, a clearance, an interception and two tackles, while winning four fouls and eight of his 10 duels.