Bukayo Saka launched a scathing self-criticism following Arsenal's 1-0 win at Fulham on Saturday evening. Leandro Trossard's goal on the hour mark was the difference between the two sides at Craven Cottage as the Gunners moved three points clear at the top of the table. However, Saka was critical of one aspect in particular as Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
Getty Images SportArsenal respond to Man City's win
Arsenal kicked off their game at Fulham on Saturday evening level on points with Manchester City following the Cityzens' 2-0 win over Everton earlier in the day. Erling Haaland maintained his rampant goalscoring form with a brace against the Toffees, the Norwegian having now scored in 12 of 13 games for club and country this season.
However, the Gunners responded brilliantly as they ground out a narrow victory over the Whites ending a two-game winless run at Craven Cottage having followed up their 2-1 loss in 2023 with a 1-1 draw in this fixture last season. Trossard, who started on the left flank at the expense of Gabriel Martinelli, scored the decisive goal on the hour mark to secure a 1-0 victory in this London derby.
Saka faced the Sky Sports cameras after the victory but while it was his corner that found Gabriel Magalhaes to knock onto Trossard, the England international was critical of his set-pieces at full time.
Advertisement'At the start of the game, I took some rubbish corners'
Jamie Redknapp brought up the topic of corners and how it helps having Gabriel attacking the deliveries in the post-match interview on Sky Sports, to which Saka replied: "Yeah, yeah, he helps, it helped. We’ve got some big guys in the box.
"At the start of the game, I took some rubbish corners, so I was quite disappointed, but I kept going, and I think this is the fourth one. I put it in, and it was a nice delivery, Gabriel got the touch, and we got the goal, so I’m very happy with that."
Presenter Dave Jones then asked why Saka thought he was taking rubbish corners, to which he replied: "Did you not see them?" And on working on corners, the Arsenal star added: "It’s something we work on a lot, and it’s quite clear, you know, we’re quite good at it. Like I said, I was happy with the ones in the end, which helped us get the goal."
Getty Images Sport'We can win at the end'
With City securing all the spoils against Everton and Liverpool up against this disappointing Manchester United side on Sunday, it was vital that Arsenal claimed victory in their first game back following the international break. On Arsenal hitting the ground running after the break, Saka said: "Yeah, obviously there’s a lot of expectation on us, we know that.
"And we didn’t start the game how we expected and how we wanted to, but, we have the experience now to understand after coming here a few years and not got the results that we wanted, but today we were able to turn that around and show that we can win at the end, so everyone in the team is so happy about that."
Given their last couple of showings at Fulham, the victory felt significant, to which the 24-year-old added: "Yeah, for sure. Even if it doesn’t for others, it does for us.
"This season we’ve beaten Newcastle, who we’ve struggled against in the past away, West Ham as well, who we had problems with at home, and now Fulham away, we’ve struggled with, so it’s points that we’ve been picking up that in recent seasons they’ve been picking up, so we’re happy with us as well."
'The mentality is simple – it’s win in any context'
Having finished runners' up in the last few Premier League season, Arsenal know they need to pip the likes of Liverpool and City to first this season in order to banish their 'nearly man' tag. It means a stronger mentality is required as the Gunners look to go the distance, which Saka elaborated on, stating: "Yeah, we believe. The mentality is simple – it’s win in any context.
"There’ll be games where we dominate possession. There’ll be games where we’re struggling. There’ll be games on top of us. Sometimes we might have to defend. Any context, we win. That’s the mentality for us. We showed that today. We started poor, and in the end, we won."
Arsenal now have a run of three successive home matches as they welcome Atletico Madrid to the Emirates in the Champions League in midweek before they face Crystal Palace and Brighton in front of their own fans to see out October.