Arsenal beat Lille 3-0 as Saka comes off bench to decide it
Arsenal beat Lille 3-0 in the Champions League on 13 October after Bukayo Saka stepped off the bench to settle it in London. The winger set up one goal and scored another as Arsenal struck three times in eight second-half minutes, according to The Guardian.
Saka did not start. He had been ill and was not ready for 90 minutes, so manager Mikel Arteta kept him among the substitutes, according to BBC Sport. He changed it.
His first big contribution was the assist. Saka found Eberechi Eze to make it 2-0. Then he scored Arsenal's third himself to complete a fast, ruthless spell that left Lille with no way back.
Arteta wants even more from him. He said Saka should aim to score "two or three" goals per game. This season Arteta has tweaked Saka's positioning to get him closer to goal, giving him more chances in the penalty area rather than only creating from wide.
The demand followed a frustrating moment the previous Saturday. Saka missed a late one-on-one chance in Arsenal's Premier League win over Leeds. At the time of the Lille report he had four goals in nine games for Arsenal this season.
He has only once passed 20 goals in a season in his career. That was in 2023-24, when he scored 20 in all competitions, including 16 in the Premier League.
His recent form for England has been sharper. Saka had scored five goals in his last four matches for the national team. That run included two goals in England's 7-0 Nations League win over Croatia during the recent international break. The Nations League is UEFA's competition for national teams.
In Europe he is climbing Arsenal's all-time lists. He has 19 goals in major European competitions for the club, second only to Thierry Henry with 42. He also has nine Champions League assists for Arsenal, behind Henry with 16 and Cesc Fabregas with 14.
What makes this stand out is the efficiency. Arsenal did not need Saka from the start. They needed him for half an hour. The win moved Arsenal to six points in the league phase, the opening stage where 36 clubs play for a place in the knockout rounds, according to UEFA.
