Odegaard's late strike sees Arsenal past Hull as lead grows to six points

Martin Odegaard's second-half strike settled a tight contest as Arsenal beat Hull City 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium to move six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The Norwegian captain struck with 18 minutes remaining for his fifth goal of the season, continuing an unbeaten home league run that now stands at seven straight wins for the champions.

Manchester City's third consecutive Premier League defeat, a 3-1 loss at Nottingham Forest, meant Arsenal's win opened a six-point gap at the summit heading into the international break.

Mikel Arteta said finishing the block of fixtures with a victory was valuable for his squad. "I'm delighted with the win because to go to the international break after winning is one of the best things for a coach or for a player," he said.

Arteta felt his side should have won more comfortably against Hull. "I think regarding the performance we were the better team. I think we had enough chances and situations to make the scoreline much bigger," he added, according to Yahoo Sports.

The match also featured a VAR decision involving Kai Havertz and Hull's Nobel Mendy that, per Yahoo Sports, did not conform to the rules, though the controversy was overshadowed by Odegaard's winner.

Bruno Guimaraes was a central figure in midfield, making only his fourth Premier League start of the season following his £75 million summer move from Newcastle United, as reported by Metro Football.

The Brazilian operated alongside Declan Rice and drew high praise from his manager afterwards. "He's much better, he had a massive impact, he's hitting serious levels now, but we can still take him to another level," Arteta said.

Arteta added that he had delivered the same message to Guimaraes directly. "That's my conviction, I told him that in the dressing room – he owned a lot of moments in the game but there is still much more to come," he said.

Noni Madueke also earned praise for his performance on the right flank in the continued absence of Bukayo Saka. "That's the second part of the story – the first is that you need to earn the right to be able to do that," Arteta said of Madueke's response to a lack of game time.

Arteta went on to credit the winger's attitude since being left out. "Noni did that, he reacted to not playing often, went away, started to train and was a different Noni," he said. "He wasn't going to accept that situation, he meant business, and since then he has been incredible. Now you are in that position, he needs to hone and improve it, so let's see if he can do that."

Manchester City's afternoon at the City Ground compounded their difficulties. Jair Cunha put Nottingham Forest ahead early before Liam Delap scored either side of half-time, with Rayan Cherki's reply for City proving insufficient as Oliver Glasner's side recorded their first home league win of the campaign.

City's third straight league defeat comes against the backdrop of their ongoing appeal against Premier League charges, with Yahoo Sports noting signs that their season is beginning to unravel.

Arsenal now break for international fixtures sitting six points clear at the top of the table, with their run of home form intact as attention turns to the resumption of the Premier League programme.