Bukayo Saka made the surprising decision to let Martin Odegaard take a penalty that he earnt in the Premier League clash against West Ham. The Gunners made a blistering start at London Stadium with Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard on target in the first half hour.
Mikel Arteta's side then had a chance to grab a third from the penalty spot after Saka was brought down by Lucas Paqueta. Saka is Arsenal's usual penalty-taker but he opted to hand the ball to captain Martin Odegaard. The Norway international subsequently slotted home from 12 yards with Kai Havertz adding a fourth moments later.
West Ham grabbed then grabbed two goals before half-time with both full-backs, in Emerson and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, scoring. With six goals in the opening 40 minutes, there was seemingly plenty to discuss at the interval but one of the big talking points involved Odegaard and Saka.
Allowing someone else to take a penalty has been done before by Saka with Odegaard and Kai Havertz both having been handed the ball to take a spot-kick. While it is not exactly clear why he did so, it was pointed out on Sky Sports that Odegaard was yet to score a league goal this season.
The main reason that Havertz was offered the chance to score from the spot away at Bournemouth was because he had not bagged a goal up to that point. Based on exactly that, it appears that was the reason Saka chose to give up his duties.
For the first 36 minutes Arsenal were in total control but Arteta would have been disappointed at how easily his side allowed the Hammers back into the game. The Gunners looked to be on their way to a convincing victory and thus a huge title statement but a tense second period is now on the horizon.
Concerns were eased just before half time however, with Lukasz Fabianski missing the ball and punching Gabriel in the head to concede a penalty. This time Saka took on the spot-kick and gave Arsenal some breathing room with his seventh goal of the season.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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