As most Arsenal supporters would testify, patience is a virtue. They needed plenty during the 22-year wait to be crowned Premier League champions and Mikel Arteta’s side certainly had to retain their composure as they tried to break down a dogged Hull side. They had not beaten Arsenal in 14 attempts since winning on their first visit to this ground in 2008. But with 20 minutes to play, there was still every chance that Sergej Jakirovic’s team could have pulled off one of the shocks of the season.
Arsenal had already been denied a penalty just before half-time for a shirt pull on Kai Havertz in the box a week after escaping the same crime against Liverpool at Anfield, in a moment of controversy that could have been the major talking point from this match. Martin Ødegaard had other ideas and the Arsenal captain’s fifth goal of the season was enough to ensure they will go into the international break with a healthy lead over Manchester City. Enzo Maresca’s side are up next here in the league after the international break, with Arsenal having matched their record tally of 27 points from their opening 10 games. The signs look ominous for the rest, even if they were made to work for the points throughout by their opponents.
“To the international break after winning is one of the best things for a coach,” said Arteta. “I need to praise the players and all the staff for the work that they are doing because it’s been very, very demanding. We have a very short time to recover from games but despite that the mentality and the quality of the team has shown: it’s incredible.”
Jakirovic had promised beforehand that his side would go on the front foot. “If you are passive, they will destroy you,” said the Bosnian. But while his bold 5-3-2 formation caused Arsenal’s much-vaunted defence some issues, Hull remain without a league victory since the end of August. “It’s a big experience for us,” was Jakirovic’s post-match assessment. “We can take some big lessons from this but we have shown we can compete at this level.”
Hull made the brighter start as John Egan headed wide from a corner. After losing to Brighton before the last international break, Arteta was taking no chances and reverted to the side that won at Liverpool last weekend. There was no William Saliba on the bench, with the France defender set to play for the under-21s on Sunday instead as he continues his comeback from a back injury.
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Yet aside from a set piece that resulted in Gabriel Magalhães just failing to connect with Ezri Konsa’s flick-on, the visitors’ low block frustrated Arsenal and they continued to cause problems on the break. Elliot Stroud forced David Raya into a save after Riccardo Calafiori surrendered possession cheaply.
Havertz’s failure to take a shot after being played in by a slide-rule pass from Ødegaard drew groans of frustration. A toiling Arsenal thought all their prayers had been answered just before half-time when the referee, Farai Hallam, was sent to the big screen by the VAR. Nobel Mendy was clearly pulling Havertz’s shirt inside the area yet the German was offside so the penalty was not awarded, even though it probably should have been according to the rules. They state that Havertz must be “attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball” to be penalised and because Mendy’s offence came first, that should have taken precedence, as it did when Newcastle’s Fabian Schär was awarded a penalty against Bournemouth in February 2024.
Pro Ref has yet to make a statement on the incident and Arteta admitted he had been left confused by the whole episode. “I don’t know what the interpretation is, I’m sure they will make that clear to understand,” he said.
The Arsenal manager’s annoyance levels continued to rise when Havertz could only head straight at Konstantinos Tzolakis on the stroke of half-time. Hull came out for the second half with a similar attitude and Jakirovic picked up a yellow card for protesting against another decision that went against his team. Declan Rice was withdrawn early, although Arteta insisted he was fine afterwards. Noni Madueke found space after a flowing Arsenal move but again his effort was straight down the throat of Tzolakis.
The feeling of desperation was growing. But Ødegaard has made a habit of coming to Arsenal’s rescue this season and the captain was quickest to react when Tzolakis spilled Madueke’s shot to finally break Hull’s brave resistance.
