We opened our Champions League campaign with a 1-0 win at Napoli, and Martin Odegaard's superb strike settled a game we should have won by four. His low finish in off the post on 75 minutes broke down a stubborn Napoli side we had battered without reward for an hour, and a fifth straight win in all competitions keeps the perfect start intact on a ground where a draw would have felt like theft in reverse.

The scoreline is the one blemish on a dominant night, and it is worth being honest about why. Our expected goals figure was 4.05 to Napoli's 0.22, and we registered 13 shots in the first half alone, the most we have ever managed in the opening period of a Champions League away game. A night that comfortable should not have been decided by a single moment of Odegaard quality. It was, because Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino, Piero Hincapie and Noni Madueke between them missed a hatful. We won. We also left Naples knowing the finishing has to be better against sharper opposition than this.

The winner was worth the wait. Bruno Guimaraes found Ben White inside the box, White laid it back to Odegaard, and the captain exchanged passes with substitute Christos Tzolis before driving a low shot in off the left post from the edge of the area. It was a finish of real class after an hour of frustration, and it was his fourth goal of the campaign and his first Champions League strike since March 2025. Three days after his winner against Chelsea, Odegaard is carrying this team's early-season scoring on his own, from midfield, which is both a compliment to him and a mild warning about everyone else.

That warning is the story of the chances we spurned before it. Saka produced the miss of the night on the stroke of half-time, released clean through by an Odegaard through ball, one-on-one with Alex Meret, and skied it over from twelve yards. He thought the flag had spared him. Replays showed he was well onside. Merino headed a good chance over, Hincapie stabbed over from the six-yard box five minutes after the restart with the goal gaping, and late on Madueke had a shot charged down before Tzolis' follow-up was blocked on the line. On another night against a better side, that profligacy costs us.

Barely, and that is the reassuring counterweight to the missed chances. Massimiliano Allegri set his side up to absorb and counter, and for all Napoli's individual quality they mustered 0.22 xG across ninety minutes. Kevin De Bruyne and Matteo Politano carried the occasional threat on the break, and Rasmus Hojlund gave them an outlet, but David Raya dealt comfortably with efforts from Billy Gilmour and Politano and was a spectator for long stretches. De Bruyne's late cross-shot could not test him. It was another clean sheet, our defensive base holding firm even on a night the attack could not find the net.

Allegri was without Scott McTominay and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa through injury and reshuffled his midfield around De Bruyne and Gilmour, and Napoli arrived having thrown away a two-goal lead to lose at Inter days earlier. This was a home side low on confidence, and we treated them accordingly, pinning them back from the first whistle. The only thing missing was the ruthlessness to turn dominance into a comfortable scoreline. Arteta had made four changes from the Chelsea win and the side still controlled the game completely, which tells you something about the depth we still have even after a summer of sales.

This is now 13 consecutive Champions League league-phase or group-stage wins for us, a run that speaks to how at home this squad has become on this stage. We reached the final last season and we are aiming to go one better this time, and starting the league phase with an away win and a clean sheet at a ground like the Maradona is the right way to begin. Lille come to the Emirates next in Europe. Before that, Sunderland away, and then Ipswich in the cup. Five from five, top of everything, and a game that flattered our opponents while barely troubling our goal. I will take the win and the warning together.