Mikel Arteta on ‘beautiful’ Saka goalscoring return and Gabriel injury concern | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says Bukayo Saka’s goalscoring return from injury was “a beautiful moment” but was concerned after Gabriel had to come off with injury.

Saka marked his return to the Arsenal squad with a goal in the 73rd minute, but this was overshadowed by two separate injuries to Gabriel and Jurrien Timber, with the Brazilian defender’s injury a worry ahead of the Gunners’ Champions League tie against Real Madrid next week.

When asked about the reaction Saka received as he was substituted on midway through the second half, Arteta believes the return of his star forward gave everyone an extra boost.

“I think a beautiful moment to see how much our people love, respect and admire Bukayo,” Arteta said. “He’s not a surprise to any of us and I think the best example is his reaction.

“Immediately after scoring a goal, what does he do? He goes and says thank you for all the hard work that all the sports science guys, physios and everybody involved in the recovery have done for him to be able to be in the condition that he is. I think he lifted the stadium, the energy and great to have him back.

“He was very positive. I think the first one is always the one, how am I going to feel? Because now I have different opposition in front of me, different demands and the pressure and he dealt with it really well.”

The positive return of Saka was overshadowed with two more Arsenal defenders having to come off with injuries. Gabriel needed to be replaced early in the first half after injuring his hamstring, whilst Jurrien Timber, who looked to have injured his left knee in the first half, was replaced midway through the second period and appeared to be struggling.

Arteta was downbeat on the loss of two more crucial defenders, with Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori already absent through their own injuries.

“The downside to that is Gabi and Jurrien,” the Spaniard said. “We don’t know how they’re going to be. We’ll be assessing them tomorrow and understand better how we are with those two.

“With both of them, because they are two players in this team that never want to come off, are those two probably. Gabi felt something in his hamstring.

“We don’t know how big that is and with Jurrien as well. He was already struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue, at some point he couldn’t. So that’s the downside to it.”