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‘Unbelievable’ Odegaard Transforms Arsenal and Gets Saka Smiling Again

Soccer Football - Champions League - Sporting CP v Arsenal - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - November 26, 2024 Arsenal's Martin Odegaard Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Soccer Football - Champions League - Sporting CP v Arsenal - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - November 26, 2024 Arsenal's Martin Odegaard Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
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‘Unbelievable’ Odegaard Transforms Arsenal and Gets Saka Smiling Again

Soccer Football - Champions League - Sporting CP v Arsenal - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - November 26, 2024 Arsenal's Martin Odegaard Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Soccer Football - Champions League - Sporting CP v Arsenal - Estadio Jose Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal - November 26, 2024 Arsenal's Martin Odegaard Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge

The goals are flying in again for Arsenal — and it just happens to coincide with the return from injury of Martin Odegaard.

Make that eight goals in two games since the international break for Arsenal after its 5-1 hammering of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday, tying the English team’s heaviest ever away win in the competition.

Odegaard is back in Arsenal’s team after missing two months with an ankle injury. In that time, Mikel Arteta’s attack stuttered, with a 2-0 loss to Bournemouth and a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle dropping the Gunners well off the pace in the Premier League. There was also a 0-0 draw at Atalanta in the Champions League as well as a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan last month, when Odegaard made his comeback from injury as an 89th-minute substitute.

Since then, Arsenal hasn’t lost and the goals have returned. After a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday came the cruise in Lisbon — and Odegaard was at the heart of everything as Sporting’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka said of Odegaard. “The day he returned, there was a big smile on my face. You can see the chemistry we have. I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.”

Odegaard was involved in the build-up to Arsenal’s first two goals against Sporting — scored by Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz — and was fouled to win the penalty converted by Saka in the 65th to restore Arsenal’s three-goal lead at 4-1.

Odegaard was seen flexing his leg after that but continued untroubled and was substituted in the 78th minute.

The last thing Arteta would want now is another injury to Odegaard as Arsenal attempts to reel in first-place Liverpool in the Premier League. Liverpool is already nine points ahead of fourth-place Arsenal after 12 games.

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Arensman Wins Tour de France 19th Stage as Pogacar Retains Yellow Jersey

INEOS Grenadiers team's Dutch rider Thymen Arensman celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 93.1 km between Albertville and La Plagne, in the French Alps, on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
INEOS Grenadiers team's Dutch rider Thymen Arensman celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 93.1 km between Albertville and La Plagne, in the French Alps, on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
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Arensman Wins Tour de France 19th Stage as Pogacar Retains Yellow Jersey

INEOS Grenadiers team's Dutch rider Thymen Arensman celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 93.1 km between Albertville and La Plagne, in the French Alps, on July 25, 2025. (AFP)
INEOS Grenadiers team's Dutch rider Thymen Arensman celebrates on the podium after winning the 19th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 93.1 km between Albertville and La Plagne, in the French Alps, on July 25, 2025. (AFP)

Thymen Arensman claimed his second victory in this year's Tour de France when he benefited from the top guns' waiting game to prevail in the 19th stage, the last mountain trek of the race on Friday.

The Ineos Grenadiers rider, whose team have been facing doping questions related to their glorious days as Team Sky, went solo in the final climb to La Plagne before crossing the line two seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, who were second and third respectively.

Slovenian Pogacar retained the overall leader's yellow jersey and leads Vingegaard by 4:24 going into the final two stages and is widely expected to win a fourth title if he avoids a major incident.

German Florian Lipowitz took fourth place on the shortened stage to cement his third place overall, stretching his advantage over fourth-placed Oscar Onley of Britain by 41 seconds to 1:03.

It would have taken a colossal coup from Vingegaard to topple Pogacar on the final mountain test in the Alps, but the Visma-Lease a Bike rider only tried within the last 100 meters to take two seconds off of the Slovenian's lead, with Pogacar emerging as the puppet master of the peloton.

A leading trio featuring France's Lenny Martinez and Valentin Paret Peintre as well as former Tour runner-up Primoz Roglic, reached the Col du Pre with a small gap of a chasing group after a brutal 12.2-km ascent at 7.7%.

The peloton, controlled by Pogacar's UAE Emirates-XRG, trailed by less than a minute.

With two kilometers left in the climb up to the Cormet de Roselend (5.9km at 6.9%), Paret Peintre and Roglic shook off Martinez, but only briefly as the Bahrain-Victorious rider clawed his way back.

Roglic went solo in the descent into Bourg Saint Maurice, dropping Martinez and Paret Peintre, who were quickly caught by the bunch.

Roglic was then swallowed two kilometers before the final climb and spat out immediately.

Austrian Felix Gall, gunning for a top five finish in Paris, accelerated 14.5km from the finish with Arensman, Pogacar and Vingegaard reacting.

Pogacar made his own move 14km from the top with Vingegaard and Arensman the only riders able to get into his slipstream.

Pogacar eventually let Arensman go and seemed content with setting a decent tempo to keep the Dutchman within reach, but the Slovenian eventually did not make the effort to go for a fifth stage win this year.