Jesus return in Fulham win a ´massive boost´ for Arsenal, says Odegaard

Martin Odegaard declared Gabriel Jesus’ long-awaited return from injury was “a massive boost” for Arsenal following their 3-0 win over Fulham.

The Premier League leaders took a step closer to the title, regaining their five-point lead at the top thanks to first-half goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Odegaard at Craven Cottage.

Mikel Arteta also welcomed Jesus back for his first Arsenal appearance since the win at Wolves in November, the Brazil international appearing as a late substitute for the impressive Leandro Trossard, who chalked up three assists.

Captain Odegaard was delighted to see his team-mate back in action, but insists the Gunners are not getting carried away despite moving within 10 wins of Premier League glory.

“It’s a massive boost,” he told Sky Sports about Jesus’ return. “He’s been out for a while now.

“We know what he’ll give to the team and we are excited to have him back.”

Odegaard added: “We did really well from the start. We controlled the game and scored some good goals in the first half. The second half was a bit different, but very good.

“[We have the] same focus. We’ve said all season we’ll take it game by game. We’ll do the same things, keep working hard and see where it takes us.”

The Arsenal number ninepic.twitter.com/HSTBOMi1je

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 12, 2023

Odegaard also praised the performance of January arrival Trossard, after the former Brighton and Hove Albion man became the first player in Premier League history to register a hat-trick of first-half assists away from home.

“He has brought some amazing things to the team,” Odegaard said.

“I love playing with him. He’s good to find the right pass and we’re really happy to have him on the team.”

Trossard himself could find few faults with the performance.

He said: “When we win, we’re always happy. We knew it would be a tough game. We did really well and kept a clean sheet as well.

“[It was] a perfect win for us. I’m really happy with it [the hat-trick of assists], I always try to contribute and today it went my way. I’m just really happy we won, now there are 11 finals to go for us.”

Arsenal became the first side in the history of English league football to win five successive away London derbies without conceding a single goal, while Arteta chalked up his 100th win in charge of the Gunners.

“I’m really happy to win and get three points away from home, especially with a clean sheet,” the Spaniard said.

“It’s great to see the goals distributed through the team. Leandro laid on three assists and could also have scored too.

“Every time we put the ball in the net, it’s great. We practice lots of things and we scored beautiful goals.”

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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 12, 2023