For 95 seconds, Martin Odegaard was back in the spring of 2024. Gliding, light as a feather, through imperceptible gaps. Believing his x-ray eyes could pierce through a defence no matter the density of bodies. No doubts, no hesitation. It was as if his team-mates cast their mind back to that period, recalling the whimsical webs he, Ben White and Bukayo Saka spun, and took themselves back there too. With 10 minutes remaining at the London Stadium, Arsenal were displaying the same traits that have proved the difference between runners-up and champions. Dominant and well distributed but soft-bellied and uncertain. Ruing the absence of a talisman, an inspirational figure who can bend a game to their will.

Thirteen quiet minutes after entering the fold as a 67th-minute substitute, Odegaard decided it was time he re-establish himself as the main character and the captain of this team. He produced a minute-and-a-half of unfiltered creativity and vision that inspired Arsenal to the most precious of victories. One that, if they end the 22-year wait for the league title, will go down in folklore. His first contribution was to show conviction, which he has not always shown recently. He breached the West Ham defence with a beautifully curled pass down the inside of wing-back El Hadji Malick Diouf. It set Noni Madueke racing, but his cross was cut out by goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. Twenty seconds later, he restored composure. When Gabriel’s header dropped from the sky, he declined to engage in a game of head tennis as his team-mates had been sucked into doing. He brought the ball down on his instep and found a neat pass out of pressure to Cristhian Mosquera. The defender found Kai Havertz who fed Odegaard the ball again, spreading play wide to Madueke. Arsenal had control again and Odegaard had his mojo back.

The body language changed. Stalking whichever team-mate was taking the throw, removing any doubt as to where the ball was going, clear in his mind that he was going to make it happen. Playground rules. When he got the ball from the throw, he exchanged flicks with Mosquera, opened his body as if to cross and instead played a disguised reverse pass to set Havertz free in the West Ham box. The German knows Odegaard better than anyone and he knew as long as he lost his marker, he would be found. He drove to the goal line but his cutback was intercepted. Still, West Ham could not break the chain. Nineteen seconds later, another throw, another Odegaard play to defend. William Saliba fed him the ball 30 yards out, in his usual position towards the right flank. He wriggled away from Pablo at his back and drove towards Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes, sucking them towards the ball. He poked the ball into Havertz in the box but possession was recycled back towards the wing. He demanded it inside the box, but Mosquera and Madueke were not the right players to thread it through to him. That was his job. Odegaard admitted defeat and dropped outside of the West Ham shape to collect it again. Take two. There was no space. He was going to have to create it. He stood still to assess his options before drifting inside towards his own goal. It threatened to be the sort of blunt attacking play that has stunted Arsenal too often. But rather than play the easy ball, he turned back, running into another cul-de-sac. This is when Odegaard is at his best. Off-piste, freestyling, reacting to whatever picture emerges. His brain was on fast forward and he spotted a pass inside to Declan Rice that went against the grain. He received the return ball and was driving towards goal. Most players would have tried to shoot or shift the ball. He feels no such need for instant gratification. Seven gentle touches later, each nudging the ball only a few inches at a time, was enough to paralyse Diouf. It was also enough for Axel Disasi, Tomas Soucek and Konstantinos Mavropanos to drop back towards goal, opening the space to lay the ball to Leandro Trossard, who holds position. The pass was weighted perfectly for the Belgian to strike first time and a deflection sent the ball past Hermansen. Odegaard collapsed to his knees. He looked to the sky as he pumped his fists, before burying his head in the ground. One group swarmed Trossard, the man whose name was on the scoresheet, but another surrounded Odegaard, the architect of it all. It was a colossal moment for Arsenal as a club but important for Odegaard as an individual.

The Norwegian has experienced an indifferent two seasons, a combination of disruptive injuries, lack of chemistry and a loss of confidence. Lately, that gave way to what would have been unthinkable two years ago: the loss of his ever-present status under Arteta. In that time, the relentless performance level of Rice has inadvertently eaten into his authority as captain. Rice’s style of play makes him the clear spiritual leader of the team, whose lungs and lunges connect the crowd and the team. Odegaard connects in a different way. When he is free like this, he makes his team-mates and fans believe that a big chance is a flick of his foot away. Much of the talk before the West Ham game had been about Bruno Fernandes versus Rice, and the merits of their player-of-the-year candidacies. The more pertinent comparison is Fernandes versus Odegaard. Two creators but with stark differences: in your face, broad brush strokes vs subtle, fine sketches. The fiery Iberian vs the understated Scandinavian. In 2023-24, there could have been no qualms about which player better suited this Arsenal team. Odegaard was tailor-made for it. More than that, he was the prototype Arteta system player. In the last couple of years, that has changed. It has been tempting to consider whether a Bruno-type midfielder was the X-Factor missing from this Arsenal team. Perhaps the Portuguese’s midweek recognition — an accolade Odegaard may have received in 2024 had things ended differently — provoked his inner ego. It could not have reappeared at a better time for Arsenal with only two game-breaker challenges — two quintessential Odegaard games — between them and glory.