Arsenal go top after beating Hull City, but Arteta remains unhappy with his forwards

Arsenal earned a hard-fought 1-0 win over Hull City in the English Premier League. After a long struggle to break down the visitors' compact defence, captain Martin Odegaard scored the only goal of the match in the 72nd minute. The win means Arsenal have now won nine of their first ten league matches this season, equalling the best start in the club's history.

At the same time, rivals Manchester City lost to Nottingham Forest, so Mikel Arteta's side have moved six points clear at the top of the table on their own. Yet despite the record-breaking success, the Spanish coach expressed dissatisfaction with his forwards' effectiveness in front of goal.

Across all competitions this season, Arsenal have now won eight matches by a single-goal margin. After Saturday's narrow win, Arteta made it clear that his attackers must move beyond the mindset of scoring the 'perfect goal.' In his view, trying to score very neat or perfect goals does not work against teams that sit deep defensively; instead, creating more chaos inside the box and catching opponents off guard is the real way through.

Arteta noted that it is vital to create chances to extend the lead early in the game, because an early goal completely changes the course of a match. He said the team must find a way to be more realistic and effective in front of goal, so that easy chances are not wasted.

Describing the missed chances, the Arsenal coach said his players were one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper at least twice, a penalty possibility arose, and there were favourable situations with the ball bouncing inside the box. But because of poor finishing, several shots were deflected or blocked after striking opposition defenders.

While there was relief at the win, Arteta stressed the need to work on the attack's consistency. He said that despite having enough to build a bigger lead, the lack of effectiveness forced the team to keep attacking until the final moments, and the goal came only through persistent effort.

Until Odegaard's goal, Arsenal had been unable to break down Hull City's packed defence. The visitors had dropped deep and organised their defence to hold Arsenal's attacks at bay, and the Gunners kept running into that wall. The captain's single goal ultimately made the difference between the two sides.

The win puts Arsenal in a strong position in the Premier League title race. Nine wins from the first ten matches equals the best start in the club's history, and sitting six points clear at the top increases the pressure on their rivals.

But Arteta's warning is clear — winning alone is not enough; the manner of winning matters too. Repeatedly winning by one goal is proof of the team's mental strength, yet wasting such chances could prove costly in the tougher matches ahead.

With the international break coming up, the Arsenal boss made clear that his next goal is to use that time to make the attack sharper and more opportunistic. When the team returns after the break, he wants them to be more ruthless in front of goal — that is now his main demand.