Misfiring Arsenal beat Napoli with Odegaard stunner in Champions League

Arsenal dominated play but needed a screamer from Martin Odegaard to seal three points in Napoli to open league phase.Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard’s sensational late strike broke stern Napoli resistance as the English champions began their bid for Champions League glory with a hard-fought 1-0 win in Naples on Wednesday.Mikel Arteta’s side, who lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in last season’s final, spurned several glorious chances against the well-drilled hosts before Odegaard lashed a shot off the post and in from the edge of the area with 15 minutes to go.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Dortmund’s Karetsas hospitalised after collapsing in Champions League matchlist 2 of 4Troubled league LIV Golf files for bankruptcy protection in USlist 3 of 4Shelton shocks Alcaraz in all-time classic US Open quarterfinallist 4 of 4Asian Games athletes forced to evacuate amid record rainfall in Japanend of listIt continued a perfect start to the campaign for Arsenal, who began their Premier League title defence with three wins in a row before condemning Massimiliano Allegri’s team to a third consecutive defeat.Arsenal’s next European test comes at home against Lille on Tuesday, October 13. Napoli travel to Villarreal on the same day as they look to bounce back.Injuries to Scott McTominay and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa forced Allegri into a midfield reshuffle, with Kevin De Bruyne and Billy Gilmour coming in. Left-back Mathias Olivera was also selected after the hosts had let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 away to Inter Milan on Saturday.Arteta made four changes from Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday, with Piero Hincapie, Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres earning their first starts of the season.The hosts set out to soak up pressure and frustrate last season’s runners-up, who struggled to break the low block early on and were almost caught out at the other end when De Bruyne and Matteo Politano both called goalkeeper David Raya into action.