Mikel Arteta has confirmed he desired to rest Bukayo Saka after the winger was replaced at half-time in Arsenal’s win over Fulham.
The Gunners sealed an emphatic 3-0 victory over the Cottagers on Saturday night, moving six points clear on the summit of the Premier League again with Manchester City not in motion until Monday.
Saka missed a run of 5 games following the March international break on account of an Achilles problem.
He was back on the bench against Newcastle United last week and again against Atletico Madrid within the Champions League midweek.
He began his first game because the Carabao Cup final against City tonight, looking back to his old self after delivering an electrical first-half performance.
Along with his side cruising at half-time, Arteta replaced Saka on the break with Noni Madueke onto replace him.
And speaking after the sport, the Arsenal boss confirmed there was no fresh injury concern, with the substitution made to ‘protect’ his no7.
‘He definitely made a difference, he made two actions that decided the sport,’ Arteta said in his post-match press conference.
‘He’s come back in crucial a part of the season. He’s fresh, his hunger is fresh. I feel he needed a performance like that.
‘Now we have to [protect him]. We want to ramp up his load but we should be careful.’
Saka created his side’s opening goal after nine minutes.
Finding himself up against Raul Jimenez, he left the striker on his backside before sending the ball across the face of goal where Viktor Gyokeres was available.
The Sweden international returned the favour five minutes before the break.
Holding the ball up and drawing in two Fulham players, he found Saka who beat Bernd Leno with a precise finish.
With three points wrapped up, Arteta brought off Gyokeres just after the hour mark with Gabriel Jesus replacing him.
Declan Rice joined him with Eberechi Eze also replaced after 78 minutes with focus now firmly on that second leg clash with Atletico on Tuesday.
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