Arsenal Debutant Bukayo Saka: I Should’ve Ended The Game With A Goal

Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka impressed greatly on his senior debut…

Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka made his debut for the first-team in our final Europa League clash of 2018 against Qarabag and the 17-year-old made a distinct impression.

Saka, who is one of the most highly-rated academy graduates to come through the system for some while, started off out wide and it took him a while to get into the game.

The England U19 international possesses the qualities we desperately lack in the squad, and it took until the second half before he demonstrated his ray of tricks.

Saka left one defender for dead before whipping a cross which Eddie Nketiah headed home, only for the duo’s celebrations to be halted by the linesman’s flag.

His moment came minutes before the final whistle with Nketiah returning the favour by playing the ball across the goal for Saka who had the goal gaping.

His first piece of action was the correct one as he took a touch to freeze the goalkeeper, but it seems excitement rushed through him and he smashed the ball into the goalkeeper’s arms.

“We went through the team and (head coach Unai Emery) called it out and I couldn’t believe it, but I just had to get on with it,” Saka told BT Sport when asked how he found out he was starting.

“I just focused, and I couldn’t stop thinking about today and how I was going to play, and I think it turned out alright. But I should have got my goal.

“I think I just need to keep playing well at academy level and any chance I have an opportunity to train with the first team I need to impress the head coach and show him what I can do, so he can believe in me like he did tonight.”

According to David Ornstein, while appearing on the Arsecast podcast, he was told by Reiss Nelson that Saka was the real deal and the player many were looking to make some noise.

It’s fair to say that we now know why.