What Emirates Stadium did as Bukayo Saka makes dream Arsenal return

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka enjoyed a dream return to action as he scored within seven minutes into his comeback from injury against Fulham.

The 23-year-old, who had been out since December after undergoing surgery on a hamstring issue, was back involved for the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.

Despite featuring in an internal behind-closed-doors friendly and before that had come through six consecutive full training sessions, Saka wasn’t deemed fit enough to be named in the starting XI.

Saka instead was instead on the substitutes’ bench and he had to wait until the second half to get his chance to be back on the pitch.

The England international, 101 days from his last appearance, came on in the 66th minute for teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri, who assisted Mikel Merino’s first-half opener.

Huge cheers and a standing ovation from the entire stadium, apart from the 3,000 travelling Fulham fans, met Saka as he made his long-awaited return to action.

There was a sense of excitement as Saka strolled on – and it’s clear that the Gunners have missed him, so his return was welcomed by the Arsenal fans.

Arsenal were 1-0 ahead when Saka was introduced, and it didn’t take him long to make an instant impact. The forward doubled the Gunners’ lead in the 73rd minute with a poacher’s finish, heading home from inside the six-yard box after Gabriel Martinelli flicked Merino’s cross into his path.

Although Saka missed three-and-a-half months with a hamstring injury, he is still Arsenal’s most productive attacker. He took his tally to six goals and 11 assists in 17 Premier League appearances this season.

Fulham pulled one back in the 94th minute through Rodrigo Muniz but it didn’t matter to the end result as Arsenal ran out 2-1 winners and closed the gap on Liverpool to nine points at the top of Premier League table. Arteta’s side have now won successive matches after the 1-1 draw at Manchester United last month.

Speaking on Saka’s impact in his post-match press conference, Arteta said: “A night of beautiful momentum to see how much our people love and respect Bukayo. The best result is the reaction and he goes and says thank you to the sports science guys. He was very positive. The first one is always going to be, ‘How am I going to feel?’

Saka’s celebration looked an emotional one. It has been a long road back after injuring his hamstring in December but Arteta continued to express his delight for the winger. “That’s why the emotional part is so important,” Arteta added. “You need to need the players.”