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Bukayo Saka of Arsenal is having yet another outstanding individual season as the Gunners have reclaimed first place in the Premier League following Saturday’s stunning victory away at Aston Villa.
As Mikel Arteta offers a fitness update amid concerns about Bukayo Saka’s health, the talented Gunners player made headlines with his celebration after a lovely goal against Aston Villa.
The game saw Mikel Arteta’s team fall behind twice, although Villa’s first goal was quickly overturned by a breathtaking strike from Saka.
After Tyrone Mings mishandled a clearance attempt, the England international reacted swiftly to the loose ball in the penalty area and emphatically volleyed it home.
The goal caused mayhem in the Villa Park away end, but Saka’s very calm and controlled celebration got a lot of people talking.
The corner flag was casually clutched by Arsenal’s number seven as he casually jogged over to the section of the field where the Gunners faithful were seated.
He appeared to almost rest on the corner flag or use it as a breather. Instead, the true motivation for the celebration has since come to light, and Saka has stated that it was a tribute to a legendary Arsenal player.
With the caption “Honoring the King,” he shared a snapshot of his celebration with another photo of Thierry Henry performing the same celebration for France.
Saka can look back on the afternoon with gratitude, but things could have been quite different for the winger personally as well as for Arsenal as a whole.
The Villa players gave Saka some rough treatment, and it was obvious that it eventually grated on his nerves.
Forwards Alex Moreno and Douglas Luiz both engaged in some overzealous tackling of the Arsenal player. Despite being observed limping during the game, Arteta allayed any worries that Saka would be out for a while.
The Arsenal manager said, “He’s alright, he got kicked quite a bit today again, but he’s going to have to deal with it, not every week, but every three days, and sometimes in training too, because it’s his game and teams are not stupid and they want to stop him.”
Arteta has previously spoken frankly about how opposing teams have handled Saka’s threat this season.
The Spaniard asserted it back in November, saying, “The referees have the duty to deal with that. People attempt to discover ways to stop him, so the better the players are, the greater the target they become.
That’s why there are very explicit rules in football about what you can and cannot do, and the referee’s role is to enforce those restrictions.”
