It was Bukayo Saka’s night as he scored on his return in the 2-1 win vs Fulham, but Arsenal are facing an early end to the season after another huge blow…
Realistically, Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes ended before the international break.
The single-digit percentage chance of something silly happening during what’s threatening to be a pretty dull run-in was reliant on Mikel Arteta’s side beating Fulham on Tuesday evening and Liverpool extending their current two-game winless run vs Everton on Wednesday night.
Arsenal held up their end of the bargain, albeit without fully convincing…
Despite the injection of positivity from Saka returning to the bench after his hamstring injury, Arsenal’s season-long problems, and you would have been forgiven for thinking this was an end-of-year dead rubber as a speed bump en route to the summer holidays.
As they have for much of this campaign, the plodding and toothless Gunners lacked urgency and operated in third gear; it seemed as if the home players – like everybody else – already knew the Premier League title race is done and could not see the gain in upping their tempo.
It’s stating the obvious – as it was a year ago – to say Arsenal desperately need to sign a natural top-tier striker, but this point remains at the forefront of your thinking each time you watch this bandaged-together version of Arteta’s off-peak side.
Fulham did little to improve the occasion as Marco Silva’s side were more than happy to sit back and kept Arsenal out without trouble while showing little intent to strike on the counter-attack until later into the game.
There were moans and groans around the Emirates, which evaporated as soon as the home fans caught sight of Saka shuffling in his seat or heading out for a stretch.
However, the overwhelming feeling in the stadium became concern in the opening 15 minutes as Gabriel Magalhaes pulled up with a hamstring injury.
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Ben White missed this match with a “niggle” and Arteta will be praying for his availability heading into next week’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid as it would be a massive surprise if Gabriel features in the either leg or any remaining game this season after picking up this injury.
Arsenal were dealt a further potential blow towards the end of the match as Jurrien Timber was forced off – possibly as a precaution – after he received treatment before the interval.
This is a potential nightmare for Arsenal – who were up against it even before these fresh setbacks – heading into the next stage of the Champions League, but these new issues were never going to spoil a night that was always going to be about Saka.
The home supporters would have been counting down the minutes until the final quarter of the match for Saka’s introduction, and it was worth the wait.
Saka was subbed on after 66 minutes with Arsenal 1-0 ahead following Mikel Merino’s deflected opener to break the deadlock, and seven minutes later, the England international was on the scoresheet.
It was not the trademark left-footed curled strike from range we’ve become accustomed to with Saka, but his simplest of headers into an open goal following Gabriel Martinelli’s flick-on was equally sweet for the winger, whose side withstood late pressure to win 2-1 after Rodrigo Muniz netted in stoppage time.
Saka is back with his infectious smile, and he’ll get more minutes against Everton before – if all goes to plan – he starts against Real Madrid next Tuesday.
Without Saka, Arsenal have looked alarmingly ordinary and have been sorely lacking in attack after becoming overly reliant on their star man from dead balls and open play.
Any team would miss a player of Saka’s calibre as he’s an elite winger who has mastered the basics and makes everything look incredibly easy. He won’t be afforded time to build, but he won’t mind as tonight proves he’s already up to speed with Arsenal’s hopes of progressing in the Champions League on his shoulders.
Still, as good as Saka is, this is still unlikely to be enough for Arsenal, who face being overpowered by Real Madrid’s world-class attack. Injuries to Gabriel (and Timber, too) severely hamper their hopes of keeping Carlo Ancelotti’s side at bay in the hope of a narrow aggregate victory, with a goal-fest over two legs only going to be won by one team.
Saka’s return night will be looked back on fondly, but Arsenal’s latest injury blows are equally important and will contribute to their season ending with one month of the 2024/25 campaign remaining.