Bukayo Saka scores his first penalty for Arsenal to revive push for Champions League qualification
Bukayo Saka scores his first penalty for Arsenal to revive push for Champions League qualification
Bukayo Saka scored his first penalty for Arsenal in a 4-2 win over Chelsea on Wednesday that revived the push for Champions League qualification.
After Arsenal took the lead twice in the first half, Eddie Neketia netted a second time in the 57th minute and Saka converted a penalty in the second minute of stoppage time.
Saka took the penalty for the first time since missing a decisive kick at the hands of Italy in England’s European Championship final shootout defeat in July 2021, making him the target of racist abuse.
This time the 20-year-old forward ended Arsenal’s three-match Premier League loss streak and leveled the team on points with Tottenham, only behind their north London rivals on goal difference. With six games remaining, the neighbors still have to play each other.
Chelsea, who are five points ahead of third place with a game in hand, had to host Arsenal with nearly 6,000 seats as it was not allowed to sell new tickets to the game under the terms of the Russian owner’s approval by the British government. Was. Roman Abramovich.
Arsenal took the lead against the race of the game as a long ball at the top was not tackled by Andreas Christensen, whose under-hit backpass was hit by Neketia in the 13th minute for his first league goal of the season.
But Arsenal leveled off within four minutes after Niketia bowled the ball, and Timo Werner’s strike put Granit Zaka into the net.
Emil Smith Rowe re-established Arsenal’s lead in the 27th with a fine team goal, finishing home after impressive games from Zaka and Martin Odegaard.
Chelsea leveled again in the 32nd with Cesar Azpilicueta coming into the box at the end of a delivery from Mason Mount.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel reacted to the first-half performance with the defense veteran Thiago Silva replacing Andreas Christensen.
But Niketia scored again in the 57th to send Arsenal to the fore for the third time. Indecision in the Chelsea defense allowed the striker to sneak in and finish low after Nuno Tavares’ cross was not cleared.
It was Saka being dragged to the ground by Azpilicueta, with a penalty that sealed the victory which saw Chelsea suffer three straight home defeats in all competitions for the first time since 1993.