Arteta pays special tribute to Bukayo Saka after outstanding Arsenal display
Mikel Arteta paid tribute to brilliant Bukayo Saka who sent Arsenal eight points clear of Manchester City heading into the international break.
The England winger scored two and made another to destroy Palace as the Gunners racked up their 22nd League win of the campaign - as many as they managed in the whole of last season. Arsenal also now have their most ever wins after 28 matches.
Arteta said: “We have individuals that excel to be at the level that we want. Bukayo was again really good. Really affecting the game with his contribution, especially in the opponent's box. So yes, I'm really happy with him."
Gabriel Martinelli had opened the scoring while Granit Xhaka also made it onto the scoresheet. Victory had come after the disappointment of being beaten to the Europa League quarter-finals by Sporting last Thursday night.
But Arteta added: “I’m really happy. Really pleased with the way we started the game.
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“I was already really pleased with the way that they’d reacted to Thursday. So I’m really happy to perform the way we did after playing 120 minutes and after losing two big players.”
Another impressive display from Bukayo Saka (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Those players were defender William Saliba who injured his back against Sporting and is expected to be out for several weeks. Also right-back Takehiro Toimiyasu - also forced off in the same game - with fears he could miss the rest of the season.
“We don’t know,” Arteta added. “We've had one assessment and they need to have another tomorrow. It’s not looking good. Tomi is not one to exaggerate things. He was really concerned straight away and we are concerned.
“We hope Willy is going to be better news. But we’ve lost players already. We lost Gabriel Jesus for four months, we lost Thomas Partey for one and a half months, we lost Alex Zinchenko for one and a half months.
“We lost Mo Elneny for six to eight months. Now we’ve lost Eddie Nketiah and Tomiyasu or Saliba. Everybody has to give a bit more. It’s not a secret. If we want to maintain that level we have to give more.”
Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Crystal Palace (2023 Getty Images)Managerless Palace, meanwhile are now 12 games without a win and are just four points off the bottom three - but two teams have played fewer matches. Jeffrey Schlupp grabbed a second-half consolation but Wilfried Zaha had earlier hit the post and Michael Olise was slow to react to a chance that could have made it 3-2
Caretaker boss Paddy McCarthy said: “Maybe if those first couple of chances had come it might have been a different story.”
Asked whether he was keen on the job full-time he added: “I’m interested in anything this football club needs me to do. I’ve been at the club for 15 years and I’ll do whatever they need me to do.”
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