Bukayo Saka makes up for lost time as Arsenal star enjoys dream return ahead of Real Madrid showdown

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Evening Standard

·1. April 2025

Bukayo Saka makes up for lost time as Arsenal star enjoys dream return ahead of Real Madrid showdown

Arsenal’s star man hits ground running ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid

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The cheers just kept on getting louder for Bukayo Saka.

First his name was read among the substitutes; then he started warming up during the first half; then he entered the fray with 24 minutes left to play; and then he scored, just seven minutes after coming on.

This really was the dream return for Saka, more than three months since he last played for Arsenal. His hamstring injury and subsequent surgery have been meticulously planned — but no one could have foreseen it all going quite this swimmingly well.

Though they cut the deficit to 2-1 in injury time when Rodrigo Muniz scored, Fulham were well beaten at the Emirates as Arsenal returned to action from the international break with a deserved and totally dominant three points.

Arteta opted not to start Saka in the end but can’t have known quite how on-the-money he was when he said in his press conference on Monday that the England international was “ready to go”.

Saka was ready to go immediately, no sooner on than lurking at the back post to nod home Martinelli’s deft flick from a Mikel Merino cross. It doubled the lead for the Gunners, and set Saka on his celebratory jaunt — peeling away, biting his tongue, and raising his arms towards the Arsenal faithful. Fear not, I'm here now.

Bukayo Saka needed barely five minutes to return to the scoresheet

REUTERS

Saka even made a beeline for the dugout to share an embrace with Sam Wilson, the club's lead physical performance coach, who has led on his rehab.

With the small matter of a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid to come next week, the second coming of Saka, 101 days after his last game, 20 games ago, could scarcely have gone better.

Arteta will have been delighted with Saka's contribution, and at his makeshift striker scoring again. Merino controlled from an Ethan Nwaneri cut-back (Nwaneri was superb) and struck past Bernd Leno, the effort helped on its way by a nick off Jorge Cuenca.

That goal settled the nerves with the interval on the horizon, and after half-time Arsenal let their dominance show, holding Fulham at arms’ length and enjoying a purple patch between the 50th and 65th minute in which they pelted efforts on goal relentlessly. That second goal had to wait for Saka, though.

It should have been a wholly positive night for Arsenal, but Arteta will have been more than a little frustrated at the way Myles Lewis-Skelly and William Saliba took their foot off the gas and allowed Muniz to score in stoppage time.

Even more so at the hamstring injury that forced Gabriel off after just 16 minutes. That threatened to dominate the agenda for the night. Saka ensured he did instead.