Izuchukwu Okosi
An excellent side Arsenal cruised to a 5-0 win at hapless bottom side Norwich City on Sunday, with Bukayo Saka’s double helping the Gunners to secure the victory as they consolidated fourth place in the Premier League.
Saka who opted to represent England rather than Nigeria at the international level opened the scoring early on before Kieran Tierney added another goal just before the break.
The forward got his brace midway through the second half, while Alexandre Lacazette, with a penalty, and Emile Smith Rowe wrapped up the victory.
The win takes Arsenal to 35 points from 19 games following their fourth straight league victory, just over two years since manager Mikel Arteta’s first match in charge of the Gunners.
Speaking to the BBC after the match, Arteta said: “It’s a very satisfying result because in this festive period we have to keep performances to a high level.
“We looked really sharp and committed. It’s a big win for us. I am really pleased. The amount of chances we create is pleasing.
“We go to every ground to try and impose our game. Today was a really good example. The unity we have around the club and with our fans is very pleasing.”
When asked for an update on Pierre Emerick Aubameyang’s status, Arteta said: “He wasn’t selected for today’s match. We’ll take it game by game. That was the decision.”
The former Arsenal captain has been training alone following his late return from a trip to see his ill mother a day after his approved date by the club.
Arsenal have less than 48 hours to recover for their next match against Wolves, with that clash pencilled in for a lunch-time kick-off on Tuesday.
Player welfare has been a hot topic of late. The fixture scheduling has given Arsenal the least amount of recovery time between their Boxing Day and next fixture out of all 20 Premier League sides.
On the short turnaround, Arteta refused to complain: “We will try and recover as well as we can and try and win the game.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
