Martin Odegaard called out for 'ridiculous' moment vs Man Utd as footage of damning incident goes viral

Martin Odegaard has been slammed by fans for a "ridiculous" moment he produced in Arsenal's shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Manchester United.

The 14-time winners were dumped out of the competition at the third round stage after losing 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of action.

Kai Havertz missed a costly penalty in the shoot-out, allowing Joshua Zirkzee to have a moment of redemption and send 10-man United into the fourth round with the decisive spot-kick.

He wasn't the only Arsenal star to miss from 12 yards though, as captain Odegaard saw his effort saved by Altay Bayindir in normal time - not long after Gabriel Magalhaes had cancelled out Bruno Fernandes' opener.

The Norwegian converted his effort in the shoot-out, opting to put his penalty in the opposite corner.

But while he made amends there, the former Real Madrid star was widely criticised for a different moment. At one point in the game, Odegaard picked the ball up deep and carried it into midfield while United were a little stretched.

However, instead of continuing to advance and find Gabriel Martinelli down the left flank - he proceeded to perform a 360 degree turn when no one was pressing him and allowed United to get back into position.

Declan Rice was also galloping up the pitch and looked incredibly frustrated by Odegaard slowing things down.

I’m never looking at him the same way again, ridiculous man. pic.twitter.com/R1BdU4HlCB https://t.co/aFYGZIi6nA

— SG (@04gully) January 12, 2025

Needless to say, the hesitance led to a flurry of angry reactions from Gunners fans.

One fan on X wrote: "Why is Odegaard doing a 360 on the ball when we're counter-attacking? There's literally no one pressuring him and he's turning into Dani Ceballos."

Another said: "I’m never looking at him the same way again, ridiculous man."

A third fumed: "Embarrassing. Rice makes the run to keep the attack going. Stifles our transition… the biggest problem our attack and creativity has."

A fourth added: "When he did this, everyone in the stadium groaned. It was sensational."

A fifth user posted: "Imagine prime KDB in that space coming back."

Odegaard takes responsibility

Arsenal suffered back-to-back home defeats in cup competitions despite dominating the ball for large spells. They lacked a clinical edge and Odegaard accepted responsibility for his penalty miss, which he described as "not good enough".

“It’s hard to say at the moment exactly why, but I think it’s small details; the last pass, the finish, the decision-making," he said in an interview with Arsenal's official website.

"Again, I think we did more than enough to win this game – I don’t know if they had a better chance than the goal and we created enough to score. Me with the penalty as well, that should have been a goal.

“It’s not good enough from me, I have to score that one. I think it was a crucial moment as well, so it was a tough one to take. That’s it.”