Mikel Arteta likened Bukayo Saka to the legendary Argentina star Lionel Messi after the winger helped to seal a winning start to the Premier League for Arsenal as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.
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Saka scored the second goal just as Wolves seemed to be threatening to find an equaliser. After a quickly taken free-kick had found him on the right, Saka cut inside on to his favoured left foot before beating Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa at his near post with a fierce shot.
It was a type of goal that has become a trademark of the 22-year-old Arsenal winger and Arteta was asked whether opposing teams should do more to stop Saka from cutting inside.
Highlights of Arsenal's win against Wolves
Back home in N5 with a win ❤️
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 17, 2024
Check out the highlights of today's 2-0 victory over Wolves 👇 pic.twitter.com/MoiWNQVPF9
“With good players it’s like that,” Arteta said. “You know with Messi, I know he’s going to come here and put the ball there because he does it all the time - that’s the quality of the players.
“Saka is unbelievable. There are not a lot of players like him on the planet and he is still so young. He can get better. It is very rare to see a young player like this perform every week at the highest level.”
Arteta was grateful for Saka’s intervention as he saw his team starting to wane after an excellent start as they seek to go one better after finishing the past two seasons behind Manchester City in second place.
“Especially the beginning of the match, in the first half, where we were really good - really aggressive, really intense, a lot of purpose to attack, very fast, a lot of threat in the box,” Arteta told Arsenal’s website.
“We generated a lot - we probably should have scored two or three, and the game would have been a bit different.
“In the second half, [there were] moments where we became a bit sloppy and not controlled, especially with some giveaways, which against this team is particularly difficult. Then the game was a bit more open and Bukayo had an unbelievable action again to make it 2-0. Then it was a different game.”