Sublime Saka scores brace as Gunners boss Monaco

Bukayo Saka continues to show the way, as well as new levels. Arsenal have recently been a team in need of a bit of stability and sense of comfort, and this 3-0 win over AS Monaco duly offered them a straight line into the Champions League last 16.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

They have leapt to third in this expanded Champions League group stage with four wins from six, although that in a table where everyone down to eight has 13 points, ninth-place Borussia Dortmund have 12 and 19th-placed Club Brugge. have 10, with the top eight going through. A bit of nerve is going to be required to keep them there, which was why the manner of this victory was all the more important.

It’s also why Saka is being talked of as the kind of player who can put in Ballon D’Or levels in 2025. His two goals were enough here, as he also set up Kai Havertz’s diverted adornment, bringing the win and also some new confidence. Few will feel that like youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, who played a pivotal role in Saka’s first from left-back. He’s another player who could be talked of in similar gushing terms in the future. There’s a player there. There’s form there again.

All of that has much more value than a mere 3-0 home win over as moderate a Ligue 1 side as Monaco might suggest. The atmosphere around Arsenal games has felt like it can drop into panic of late, due to a general agitation with the frustrations of the season. There is still belief in Mikel Arteta’s team and an awareness of their level, of course, but also concern at how the rigours of this campaign have stopped them showing that.