Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta only had positive comments for his captain Martin Odegaard.

The Gunners claimed a comfortable 2-0 win over Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.

Odegaard put in a terrific display, starring for the Gunners in the middle and ensuring they came away with all the points.

Post-game, Arteta stated: “He wanted to celebrate his beautiful birthday today in a great way - and he's done it, with a win, with a huge performance.

“The way they play, the way they press you, they go man-to-man and you have to be so good, so accurate, so precise, so intelligent to do what we have done today. We've done it."

On the team's patience in the contest, he added: “Absolutely - we had to be patient but at the same time, we had to be really determined against this team.

“Maybe [you can] have certain doubts - they start to open you up, they start to frustrate you and dominate with the ball. We didn't allow that to happen today. We showed a lot of maturity and a lot of intelligence.

“This game against them required [us] to be really intelligent in certain areas. We've done that in a really good way. Regarding [illness] we have some issues in the camp. With Jorginho as well, we have another issue, so we have five or six now. We need players."