Arsenal returned to winning ways and the top of the Premier League table with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to relegation-threatened Luton Town on Wednesday.

Sunday's goalless draw with title rivals Manchester City had ended a sequence of eight straight Arsenal wins and seen them replaced by Liverpool at the summit, but the Gunners were back in their groove at Emirates Stadium, even with Bukayo Saka absent and a number of other stars on the bench.

How the match unfolded

Captain Martin Odegaard kept his place and struck first, with Daiki Hashioka's own goal then ensuring Mikel Arteta's men could see out a routine victory with a minimum of fuss.

Liverpool, now a point behind, will look to unseat Arsenal once more when they play Sheffield United on Thursday in a fixture that will be sure to steal some attention as Arteta's focus turns towards Saturday evening's trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.

After a patient start, Arsenal scored with their first attack of note in the 24th minute. Emile Smith Rowe dispossessed Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu near halfway, allowing Odegaard to advance, trade passes with Kai Havertz and then drill into the bottom-left corner.

Sharp stops from Thomas Kaminski denied both Smith Rowe and Havertz, but his goal soon came under threat from his own defenders.

While Alfie Doughty was fortunate to see his clearance deflect narrowly wide off Thomas Partey, Hashioka had no such luck, unwittingly turning in Smith Rowe's cutback when it evaded Reiss Nelson shortly before half-time.

Luton sought to respond after the break, yet they created little by way of clear-cut chances, with Arsenal happy to keep them at bay and occasionally threaten on the counter.

As Kaminski scrambled to a late save from substitute Eddie Nketiah, a low-key second half ended without further goals, leaving Arsenal in pole position and Luton still three points shy of safety in 18th.

Arteta did not risk Saka, who hobbled off against City, while Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were both named among the Arsenal substitutes, but Odegaard was in the starting XI and continued his trend of scoring against promoted sides.

Odegaard's opener was his 13th goal involvement in his past 13 league matches against such opposition, with his last three goals breaking the deadlock against Burnley, Sheff Utd and now Luton.

Set on their way by their captain, Arsenal have won each of those three matches – scoring 13 and conceding none – to keep the pressure on Liverpool.

Luton have given even the Premier League's best teams a run for their money this season, often with precious little to show for it. A dramatic 4-3 stoppage-time defeat to Arsenal in the reverse fixture a prime example.

This match was a little different, even if the injury-hit Hatters were never truly outclassed.

Coming up against Arsenal's solid back line, Luton failed to score in a Premier League fixture for the first time since their November defeat to Manchester United, their league-best run of netting in 18 straight matches coming to an end this evening.

Club reports

Arsenal report | Luton report

Match officials

Referee: Craig Pawson. Assistants: Marc Perry, Steve Meredith. Fourth official: Simon Hooper. VAR: Tim Robinson. Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.