Nigerian Bukayo Saka shines as Arsenal lands in Europa League R32

3 Min Read

Nigerian Bukayo Saka came through for Arsenal FC in their Europa League tie against Standard Liege with an assist and a goal to round off another outstanding performance from the young Gunner. The draw sealed qualification for Europa League Round-of-32 for the Gunners.

Also Read: Ronaldo angrily pushes pitch invader, scores 128th UCL goal

Arsenal was down by a goal in the first half thanks to Samuel Bastien deflected shot that found the back of Martinez net. It got worse for the Londoners who fell further behind on the 69th minute when Standard Liege got a second as Selim Amallah’s strike from inside the area flew into the far corner via a slight deflection off Konstantinos Mavropanos.

Also read: Why Gernot Rohr is silent over Cyriel Dessers’ Super Eagles switch

Arsenal concede a goal to Standard Liege in Europa League last group match
Arsenal concede a goal to Standard Liege in Europa League last group match

Arsenal needed someone to step up and take matters into their own hands and up steps teenager Bukayo Saka who first delivered an inch-perfect cross into the danger area to which Alexandre Lacazette gladly obliged putting a delightful headed shot past Liege’s goalkeeper into the back of the net.

Lacazette headed Arsenal back in contention against Standard Liege
Lacazette headed Arsenal back in contention against Standard Liege

Even at this point, the Gunners faithfuls would not have expected what was to come next given that the team had but ten minutes to restore parity or suffer another demoralizing lose, this time provider turned finisher as Bukayo left unmarked on the left flank took a touch to a touch to set himself up and hammered a low drive from outside the box into the left corner of the Liege’s goal.

In three minutes, the young gunners undid all of Standard Liege’s hardwork who came into the match with a momentous task of having to score five unanswered goals to cause an upset and knock the visitors out of the competition – a feat that was almost surely impossible, to begin with. 2-2 the match ended with Bukayo Saka bagging a well deserved Man-of-the-Match award.

Share this Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.