Bukayo Saka, an attacking midfielder for Arsenal, has entered an exclusive group of Gunners players thanks to his spectacular goal in the 3-2 Premier League victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
The 21-year-old contributed to the Gunners’ stunning win at the Emirates. Mikel Arteta’s team had to stave off an early Marcus Rashford wonder goal and Saka did reply it in some fashion in the 2nd half.
Before the break, Eddie Nketiah’s header brought the Premier League leaders even. Early in the second half, Arsenal maintained their intensity, and they were rewarded in the 53rd minute.
Saka scored a fantastic goal that went into the far corner of the net after being given permission to cut inside on his left foot. Thus, cementing his status among a selected group of players of Arsenal.
Saka scored a goal in Arsenal’s earlier season loss to Erik ten Hag’s team at Old Trafford, and he added a penalty goal in the 2021–22 campaign’s 3–1 victory for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.
The Hale End sensation has now joined Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg as the only players for Arsenal to score in three straight Premier League contests against Manchester United.
Between 1998 and 2000, Ljungberg was the first Arsenal player to accomplish the feat, and between 2000 and 2001, the club’s all-time leading scorer Henry plagued Man United three times in a row.
Saka comments after defeating United
The England international was pleased with his contribution despite coming close to scoring twice on the day with a strike that took a nick off Christian Eriksen and went onto the post.
“Hello Freddie, hello Thierry – I’m happy. I was so close to get getting two but I’m just so happy I got that first one and it gave me confidence to keep shooting,”
Saka showed Sky Sports News.
After Saka’s attempt, Lisandro Martinez’s header gave Arsenal a second setback, but with 90 minutes remaining, Nketiah glanced home his second of the game to ignite wild celebrations among the home fans.
“You can see how much it means to everyone. They’re the only team that have beaten us this season so we really wanted to beat them for the fans,”
Saka added.
“We know how win this win is for us. It wasn’t easy and it definitely wasn’t our best start to the game but we showed a lot of character to come back and get the win.”
Saka tied one of Henry’s records on the evening, and Nketiah did the same, becoming just the second Arsenal player to score the game-winning goal against Manchester United in the 90th or later.
In January 2007, Henry scored a late goal for the Gunners against the Red Devils, but Nketiah acknowledged that he was visibly upset as soon as the VAR review started.
“I saw Martinez next to me so I thought I was onside but when you see that purple (VAR) screen come up, your heart always goes a bit,”
Nketiah added.
“You could see how much we wanted to win and how bad we wanted it for ourselves and our fans. We kept pushing and pushing and thankfully we found the goal.”
Arsenal have now amassed 50 points from their first 19 games of the season, maintaining a five-point lead over Manchester City, who have played one more game, at the top of the standings.
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