Bukayo Saka led Arsenal to victory in Champions League on Wednesday, but felt some regret after a teammate denied him a first hat-trick for his boyhood club.
The England The winger had already scored twice against Monaco at the Emirates Stadium when he sent a shot towards goal in the 88th minute. The shot could have been saved by the goalkeeper, but it bounced off the shin quite accidentally Kai Havertz and into the net to seal a 3-0 victory for Arsenal.
“He got in his way,” Saka said of Havertz with a laugh, “but don’t worry, that’s it [a hat trick] coming. It’s on the way.”
Despite this, Saka once again played a decisive role for Arsenal with three goals, and manager Mikel Arteta said the 23-year-old right winger was on track to reach world-class level.
“To put yourself in that position, you have to be able to do it consistently for many years,” Arteta said. “We can compare what he has done in his first six years of playing professional football, which is exceptional, you know, and that’s it, and his goal is to improve.
“He has the players and the environment to continue this and I am sure he will.”
Due to injury problems in the defense of the 18-year-olds Myles Lewis-Skelly he made his debut in the Champions League and played as a left back, where he appeared as a substitute many times First league this season.
The highly-rated Lewis-Skelly said he draws inspiration from Saka, who also left Arsenal’s academy as a teenager.
“You look at Bukayo, he has this mindset, he has everything,” he said. “I learned a lot from him and I want to keep learning.”
The victory moved Arsenal up to third place in the 36-team table.
“We should have finished the game in the first half but we didn’t,” Arteta said. “In the Champions League you will have difficult moments and we suffered.
– Then after the second goal the match was in control.
Arsenal’s last two games at UCL have been against Dynamo Zagreb at home and away Girona.
This story uses information from the Associated Press and Reuters.
