Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was accused of being ‘unhappy’ that he did not win the Man of the Match award following his side’s 2-0 win over Newcastle. Jorginho, instead, received the accolade and the midfielder took joy from the discontent of his team-mate.
Odegaard opened the scoring for the Gunners with a fine strike in the 14th minute, somewhat against the run of play, after finding himself unmarked on the edge of the area.
The Norwegian’s goal helped turn the tide in the match, dominating the run of play up until the half-time break as a result. Odegaard was then key in Arsenal doubling their lead in the 71st minute when he made a darting run to the back post and looked set to convert from Gabriel Martinelli’s cross before Fabian Schar knocked the ball into his own net.
The Gunners captain was heavily praised for how instrumental he was during the victory, though Gary Neville opted against giving the former Real Madrid star the Man of the Match award – instead naming Jorginho as the standout star on the day, with Odegaard having to hand the trophy to his team-mate.
Upon hearing that Jorginho received the award, Sky Sports’ pitch side commentator joked: “It can’t be you every game, Martin,” before asking Jorginho “he’s not happy, is he?” The former Chelsea playmaker could not contain his laughter as Odegaard handed over the award, saying “No, he’s not happy!” whilst bearing a grin.
Odegaard laughed along with the joke, repeatedly tapping Jorginho on his chest in a congratulatory gesture before leaving the camera shot. Though the comments from his team-mate would suggest that being named Man of the Match is an accolade that the 24-year-old takes pride in.
However, Jorginho was incredibly important at St James’ Park and played a key role in recycling attacks for his team-mates and slowing the game down when it threatened to boil over. The Italian was reluctant to receive praise after the match though.
He told BBC Sport: “The most important thing is that we go home with three points, as we wanted. We know this league, we know we can’t win every game playing beautiful football.
“I am really pleased to see that our team can play these type of games and understand it is not always possible to just go through with passes. Sometimes you need to fight. I am proud to see us fight to the end.”
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