LISBON, Portugal – Just as Arsenal began to falter, Martin Odegaard delivered a match-defining moment of quality. Manager Mikel Arteta will hope this can apply to their season as a whole, after a difficult run of results in which their captain’s absence was keenly felt.

Managers complaining about injuries is nothing new – and it can often serve as a useful distraction from other problems – but Odegaard’s return from an ankle injury has coincided with a dramatic upturn in their performances, which continued with the impressive 5-1 defeat from Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday. in the UEFA Champions League.

“He is an incredible player and the day he returned there was a big smile on my face,” teammate Bukayo Saka said of Odegaard. “You can see the chemistry we have, how much I enjoy playing with him. So I’m happy he’s back and I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.”

Sporting started this season unbeaten in 19 games, beating Manchester City at the Estadio Jose Alvalade just three weeks ago, with Viktor Gyökeres’ hat-trick confirming his status as one of Europe’s most popular players. Manager Ruben Amorim has since left for Manchester United and Gyokeres was a peripheral figure on Tuesday night, with Arsenal citing the best half of football of the season in the opening 45 minutes.

It was a typical European away performance: clinical in attack, disciplined and tenacious in defense. Their 3-0 half-time lead – thanks to goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhães – was fully deserved, the first two coming from a right-wing combination that Sporting simply couldn’t deal with.

Odegaard’s tendency to drift to the right flank to link up with Saka is a well-known playing pattern, but one that many teams struggle with: Nottingham Forest found this out last weekend when they were soundly beaten at the Emirates Stadium. With Jurriën Timber showing promising signs as a more than capable deputy for regular right-back Ben White (he’ll be out until the new year after knee surgery), Arsenal’s strength on that wing was such that 65% of their attacks came through that channel in the first half.

Timber set up Martinelli for the opener and Saka found Havertz for the second after 22 minutes. Gabriel’s third was a header from a corner, extending their impressive set-piece record, but after Gonçalo Inacio dented their defensive record with a near-post finish two minutes into the second half, Sporting sensed an unlikely comeback. Arsenal started to show nerves. Passes went out of place, the pressure started to build, goalkeeper David Raya was shown a yellow card for wasting time.

And then suddenly Odegaard charged forward, passed Inacio and somehow, off balance but still purposeful, he worked his way into the penalty area, where Ousmane Diomande could only foul him and concede a penalty . Saka scored the penalty before substitute Leandro Trossard added a late fifth, but Odegaard was the chief architect. He had more touches (82) than any other Arsenal player apart from Timber (84), and he didn’t even play the final 12 minutes, resting with Saturday’s tricky trip to West Ham in mind.

There is skepticism about the overall quality of the Portuguese league, but Arsenal have made the division gap here look enormous, which is a great credit to them. For starters, Tuesday marked the first time Arsenal had scored five away goals in the Champions League since October 2008. Having faced legitimate questions about their sustainability on the road in Europe in this match, Arsenal had not scored an away goal in the Champions League. this competition since December, during a run of one win in eight games – this was an emphatic response.

When asked if this was the best European away performance of his five-year tenure, Arteta was clear.

“Definitely, especially against the opponent we played in their house,” he said after the match. “I don’t think they’ve lost here in 18 months. They’ve been in top form, they’ve been better than anyone they’ve played here. To play at that level, with the fluidity we achieved today… I I am very satisfied.”

Arteta raised eyebrows when he described their 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan as the best they had played in a major European match for years, but that confidence was thoroughly justified here.

“It is true that the result is very different,” he said. “But with the performance and identity of what I saw against Inter, I was very satisfied. I knew good things would happen in Europe on that path. Today we were able to do that and replicate it and be more efficient.” I am very happy because the team played with such courage. They are so good and when I see them live I realize how good they are.”

Arteta also said he believes the return of several players from injury has increased competitiveness in training, which in turn increases performance levels. That said, Odegaard’s return feels most transformative when he plays this way.

The Premier League learned this last weekend and the Champions League received the same message on Tuesday.