Arsenal of England youngster, Bukayo Saka has gained plaudits from The Gunners’ coach, Mikel Arteta, following the Nigerian-born lad’s efforts in Thursday’s UEFA Europa League victory away to Slavia Prague of Czech Republic.
In the wake of the encounter, in which Peter Olayinka played 90 minute but failed to save Slavia from defeat, Arteta labeled his youngsters a joy to watch, as they helped his side reach the Europa League semi-finals for the third time in four years.
Arsenal academy graduates, Saka Emile Smith Rowe both starred for The Gunners, while Folarin Balogun got off the bench in the second half, as they shocked the hosts with a fine first-half display, hitting three goals in six minutes en route to a 4-0 win on the night.
Megasportsarena.com reports that Smith Rowe had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside before Nicolas Pepe opened the scoring, Alexandre Lacazette then converting a penalty after Saka was fouled before the England international added the third himself.
Lacazette would strike again in a more timid second half to see Arsenal through 5-1 on aggregate and into a last-four clash with former head coach Unai Emery and Villarreal of Spain, whose current coach gave both Smith Rowe and Saka their senior debuts for Arsenal during his 18-month reign at the club as Arsene Wenger’s successor.
Saka and Smith-Rowe have now gone on to become important parts of Arteta’s squad and the Spaniard was delighted with their performances, and Arteta posited: “For me it is a joy to watch them play, to watch them every day in training.
“How they behave, the passion and the commitment they have for the club. And then how much they like to play football. Credit to (all) the players, for how they approached the game and how brave they were in their approach.
“We were brave, we were efficient, we put them under a lot of pressure. And in the final third we were really clinical. We know how important the competition is.”
