Saka Shines; Iwobi Tried (Arsenal 3:2 Everton)

Arsenal continued their improvement under young coach Mikel Arteta today with a 3:2 home win against Everton with Master Saka making his mark yet again in an encounter that saw Alex Iwobi miss several opportunities to register his name on the scoresheet. Rating Iwobi today, Adam Jones writing for Liverpool Echo said:”Alex Iwobi – 5/10 Missed a couple of chances to extend Everton’s lead before losing the run of Bukayo Saka for the youngster to cross in for Arsenal’s equaliser in the first half. Not his best performance as he returned to his old stomping ground.” Saka for his part attract a 6.6/10 ratings from controversial Josh Sipie of Paininthearsenal.com who wrote:” “Came on for an injured Kolasinac in just the 13th minute. Greeted to rapturous applause. Naturally, he got involved straight away, setting up a great chance for Nicolas Pepe before coming back and delivering a pristine cross for Eddie Nketiah’s beautiful finish. Perhaps it was an inevitability of timing, but this club looked completely different after he got introduced.” Josh, in keeping with his controversial manner, was also critical of aspects of Saka’s performance in his piece which I chose to disregard. Calvert-Lewin had put Everton in the lead before Nkethia drew Arsenal level and then Aubameyang put the Londoners ahead in 33 minutes to make it 2:1 at that point. Richalison brought Everton back into the match before Aubameyang’s 46 minute strike made it 3:2 to Arsenal as Everton huffed and puffed but couldn’t bring the house down – 3:2 it ended. The win means Arsenal remain unbeaten in 2020 and gives them back-to-back league victories for the first time since the opening two matches of the campaign.

Iwobi’s wait for his 2nd league goal of this campaign continues after his 1st and only goal thus far came on the 1st of September 2019 against Wolves. He has played 16 games in the league since then without registering either a goal or an assist to his name! Saka on his part continues to grow in stature with key assists in games for Arsenal this breakthrough season. They Anglo-Nigerian has provided 4 assists thus far this season across the Premier league and Europa competition games. The England youth International is destined for great things should he continue on this trajectory. Alex Iwobi is expected to named in the Super Eagles squad for March assignments.