Arsenal celebrate against Lille
Mikel Arteta praised Bukayo Saka for making a decisive impact despite battling illness in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Lille.
The winger was not fit enough to start but came off the bench and played a key role in the Gunners’ victory, setting up Ebere Eze for his side’s second before scoring the third, after Jurrien Timber had opened the scoring.
“He wasn’t feeling that good yesterday and today because he had an illness,” Arteta said.
“He wasn’t ready to start but he really was keen to contribute to the team if needed.
“He came on, made a huge impact and delivered with real quality.”
Stay up to date with all the latest Arsenal news by joining our Arsenal WhatsApp channel.
Arteta also provided an injury update on Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie, with the latter facing a longer spell on the sidelines.
“Zubi is much, much better, Piero is improving but as I said, it looks more significant,” he said.
“I think it will be a matter of weeks, we don’t know exactly how many.”
Zubimendi appears closer to a return, although Arsenal are still waiting to see how he responds once he gets back onto the pitch.
“Zubi, we have to see the moment he goes on the pitch how he deals with the pain and there’s still some small feeling he will have,” Arteta added.
If you enjoy our articles, help us out by making Hayters.com one of your preferred sources on Google by clicking here.