Arsenal 1-0 Hull City was never going to be pretty, but the Gunners will not care one bit. Martin Odegaard poked home a late rebound at Emirates Stadium on 7 November 2026 to make it five league wins in a row and open a six-point gap at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal 1-0 Hull City: how a stubborn afternoon was won
Hull arrived in north London with no intention of sitting back and waiting to be picked off. John Egan headed just wide at the far post from a deep corner after only two minutes, and Semi Ajayi, a former Arsenal academy player, looped a header that David Raya gathered easily. It was an even, scrappy start.
Arsenal’s best early opening also came from a header. Ezri Konsa rose highest to meet an inswinging cross, but the ball flicked off him and drifted wide, with defensive partner Gabriel sliding in at the far post. Then Elliot Stroud burst into the box and forced Raya into a low save, with Riccardo Calafiori there to block the follow-up.
Half an hour in, the hosts had barely troubled Konstantinos Tzolakis in the Hull goal. Declan Rice volleyed wide from the edge of the area, and when Rice and Tzolis did test the Greek keeper, both efforts were comfortable. Kai Havertz then failed to control an Odegaard through-ball when he really should have worked the goalkeeper.
The VAR moment that wasn’t
The first half’s big talking point arrived late. Havertz was tugged by the shirt in the box, and although the referee missed it in real time, play was halted a minute or so later for a VAR check. Referee Farai Hallam went to the monitor and agreed it was a foul, but no penalty followed because Havertz had been in an offside position all along. Rice then headed at the keeper as the teams went in goalless.
Odegaard pounces as Arteta rolls the dice
Mikel Arteta’s side stepped up the intensity after the break. Bruno Guimaraes saw a shot charged down, and Lewie Coyle cut out a diagonal Rice pass just as Arsenal threatened to outnumber Hull on the counter. The best move of the match ended with Noni Madueke shooting low in the area, only for Tzolakis to parry.
Arteta turned to his bench, and on came Mikel Merino, Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Piero Hincapie. The game stretched, the tackles flew in, and as the final 25 minutes began, the breakthrough still would not come.
It finally did in the 72nd minute. Madueke worked superbly in the area before sending a shot towards the near post that was too hot for Tzolakis to hold, and Odegaard was on hand to nip in and poke the loose ball over the line. A captain’s goal, from a captain’s position: in the right place, at the right time.
Hull refused to wilt. They kept two men up front and kept running, and Madueke nearly doubled the lead after latching on to a clever Merino flick. He tried to round the keeper but was denied by an outstretched boot, and the rebound that ricocheted off him was cleared off the line. It did not matter. The visitors picked up six yellow cards in a niggly, committed display, and Arsenal’s 100 per cent home record in the league survived.
What the result does to the Premier League table
This was Arsenal’s seventh league clean sheet of the season, and it takes them to 27 points from 10 games, with nine wins and a single defeat. The timing is helpful too. Manchester City lost 3-1 at Nottingham Forest later the same day, so City sit second on 21 points, exactly six behind. For the full picture of how the weekend was shaping up, see our Arsenal, Hull, Forest and Manchester City preview.
For Hull, the afternoon was a missed chance rather than a collapse. They remain 13th on 11 points after 10 games, and they gave a title favourite a genuinely hard evening’s work. Their shape, their pressing and their willingness to attack will encourage them as the season unfolds.
Three things we learned
- Arsenal can win ugly. Plenty of title challengers slip up on days like this. The Gunners found a way without being at their fluent best.
- The bench matters. Merino, Gyokeres, Eze and Hincapie all arrived after the hour, and Merino’s flick created the best chance for a second.
- The defence is the foundation. Seven clean sheets in 10 league matches is the kind of record that wins championships.
What next for the Gunners
Arteta admitted afterwards that his team can still do much better, which should worry the chasing pack. The international break now scatters the squad, with five Gunners called up by England, before Premier League action resumes with a trip to Newcastle United on Saturday 21 November 2026.
Elsewhere in the weekend’s Premier League action, Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday, and you can revisit our Crystal Palace v Liverpool preview. For more reports, previews and analysis from across football and beyond, head to the Little Big Red Dot Sports section.
