Saka criticised by ex-Tottenham boss despite starring role in 5-0 Arsenal win

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Saka criticised by ex-Tottenham boss despite starring role in 5-0 Arsenal win
Saka criticised by ex-Tottenham boss despite starring role in 5-0 Arsenal win

Bukayo Saka has been told his penalty was "not convincing" in Arsenal's thrashing of Burnley at the weekend.

The winger scored two of his side's five at Turf Moor, including a first-half spot kick. His strike fired past James Trafford in the Burnley goal, but was perhaps not the most emphatic penalty Saka had ever hit. As a result, former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood took aim at the winger for leaving Arsenal fans with "your heart in your mouth".

Saka has continued to be a shining light for the north Londoners as they seek to win the title for the first time in two decades. He remains one of their key goal threats and has taken on penalty duties in recent seasons, despite his latest effort not pleasing everyone.

Sherwood, who was previously in charge of Tottenham, told Premier League Productions: "It’s up to Saka and this is not convincing. It’s convincing enough when it nestles behind the goalkeeper into the back of the net, but if you are an Arsenal fan, you would have had your heart in your mouth at that stage.

"It was a poor penalty. You look at the goalkeeper, he should save it. I mean, it has gone underneath his hand. But at the end of the day, it ended up in the back of the net."

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Saka has endured heartbreak from penalties having missed the decisive penalty as England were beaten in the final of the Euros by Italy at Wembley. The Arsenal star, then very early in his international career, saw his effort saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Since then he's largely been ruthless from the spot, converting some pressure penalties, including one that saw Arsenal beat Liverpool last term. His only miss came last season during a 2-2 with West Ham at the London Stadium. This year he's scored four from four.

Saka criticised by ex-Tottenham boss despite starring role in 5-0 Arsenal winBukayo Saka scored his first on Saturday from the spot

Saka's brace in the win over Burnley allowed Arsenal to keep pace with Liverpool, who are just two points ahead of them. Despite scoring twice the winger couldn't find the elusive third that would've seen him score a first career hat-trick but he's confident that the treble is close.

He said: “I'm really pleased. I'm enjoying my football, but obviously I need to keep focused. But yeah, of course I'm happy to score two, two weeks in a row and hopefully the third one will come soon. It's coming. It's coming, but I need to be patient!”

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Samuel Meade

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