'Hurt' due to City loss motivated us to beat Chelsea - Odegaard

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard says they were fueled by the “hurt” of their defeat to title rivals Manchester City as they beat Chelsea 3-1 on Tuesday night.

The Gunners were thumped 4-1 by Manchester City last Wednesday, which dented their hopes to clinch their first Premier League title in 19 years.

In their first game since defeat at the Etihad, Mikel Arteta’s side ran out 3-1 winners over Chelsea thanks to three goals in the opening 34 minutes.

“We came out and we showed a different spirit, a different team to last time,” Odegaard told Sky Sports at full time. “Very happy with the first half and then second half is a bit messy I would say. Three points and a good win for us and we needed this one to get back a bit.

“Everyone was so hurt after the game and we used this anger and the disappointment to get into this game and really bounce back, and I thought we did that especially in the first half.

“I think you can lose games but the way we lost; we didn’t play our game and we weren’t ourselves. That’s the most painful and that’s why we wanted to show a different side today.”

Odegaard got his second brace of the season on 31 minutes with a pair of first-time finishes after being teed up by Granit Xhaka.

Gabriel Jesus added a third for Arsenal before the break before Noni Madueke scored a consolation for Chelsea in the second half.

The result sees Arsenal return to the Premier League summit, two points clear of Manchester City, although Pep Guardiola’s side have two games in hand.

Arsenal return to action on Sunday when they travel to Newcastle.