Sometimes the blatantly predictable is best in football.
A night built around Bukayo Saka’s long-awaited return from injury, Arsenal’s superstar winger marked his comeback with a goal as the Gunners ran out 2-1 winners over Fulham. A win that nibbled away at Liverpool’s hefty margin at the top of the Premier League table, Saka’s moment did far more than secure the points for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal started the day 12 points adrift of leaders Liverpool, but you really wouldn’t have been able to tell that going off the Emirates atmosphere. No matter what you think of the anthem, a rousing rendition of North London Forever preceded the contest, with the Gunners faithful remaining in full voice for the opening stages. He was only on the bench, but the impact of Saka’s long-awaited return to the fold was evident from the outset.
However, Arsenal’s high spirits were quickly dealt a dampener, reminded that the injury gods show no mercy. Within the quarter-hour, Gabriel found himself on the deck, shaking his head and clearly unable to continue. He limped off, with Jakub Kiwior coming on in his stead. Just when Arsenal’s treatment table looked to be lightening up, Arteta experienced yet another injury setback – exacerbating a crisis that has defined the Gunners’s flailing title charge this term.
Arteta had quite a simple solution to the temporarily deflated feeling inside the Emirates in light of the Gabriel development. On 25 minutes, Saka stepped off the bench to engage in his first touchline warm-up of the night. Such a regular matchday occurrence for a player, it evoked a spine-tingling ovation that rippled around the ground. So stirring was the reception that Fulham duo Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi couldn’t help but put an arm around their opposing player on the night and encourage him to properly soak up the adulation.
Saying that, the first half of the contest reminded us that even with stretched options, Arsenal’s right-wing berth hasn’t sat empty for the past three months, desperate for an injection of venom in Saka’s absence. The 23-year-old’s Hale End understudy, teenager Ethan Nwaneri, has in recent weeks proven himself as a threat to be reckoned with amidst an attacking injury crisis, and he started the Fulham clash in a similar vein. Latching onto a Gabriel Martinelli cross, he caught a sweet volley to call Bernd Leno into action for the first time of the night.
And after chipping away at Fulham’s so-far sturdy defence, Nwaneri was at the heart of Arsenal’s ...
