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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Arsenal handed major Bukayo Saka fitness boost as Scott McTominay's plan backfires spectacularly

The fallout from Arsenal's 3-1 win over Manchester United continues with Bukayo Saka taking his turn to be the centre of attention following praise for the likes of Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Elneny and Martin Odegaard.

Whilst the Gunners were by no means at their best as a collective on Saturday afternoon, the England international was once again impressive as he caused problems for Alex Telles throughout and had a hand in all three goals at the Emirates Stadium.

It was his effort that was parried into the path of Nuno Tavares by Man United goalkeeper David de Gea to break the deadlock after three minutes and it was his attempted pass into the box that was cut out with the ball eventually falling to Xhaka to make the game safe 20 minutes from time.

READ MORE: Mikel Arteta's big change with Nuno Tavares can save Arsenal millions in summer transfer window

Sandwiched between those strikes was another successful penalty from Saka. It was just last summer when the 20-year-old saw his decisive spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnaruma in the Euro 2020 final, but he has shown great character to take on the responsibility in each of Arsenal's last two games.

Against Chelsea, Saka won and converted a penalty to give the Gunners a two-goal lead and he repeated the trick just three days later against Man United as he sent de Gea the wrong way after being fouled in the box by Telles to score his 11th Premier League goal of the season.

And that was despite the best efforts of Scott McTominay to put him off. As well as a 'Bench Cam' feature which has been uploaded to many digital platforms, Arsenal have released a new feature from the win over the Red Devils which focuses solely on Saka's individual performance.

One of the major flashpoints occurred when the winger was waiting for the penalty area to be cleared before putting the ball down on the spot as McTominay knocked the ball out of his grasp. However, that plan of action backfired spectacularly on the United midfielder as Saka simply reacted with a wry smile before converting the spot-kick.

The other moment of significance came after the full-time whistle. Now, Saka didn't complete the full 90 minutes on Saturday and his substitution left many in attendance as well as Arsenal fans watching from home a little concerned as he picked up a knock that forced him off.

"He had a big knock the other night and at one stage today he was struggling so we’ll see how he is," Mikel Arteta revealed after the game and he also confirmed that Saka was a doubt to even start the match alongside Benjamin White, Eddie Nketiah and Xhaka.

With that said, it would appear that Arsenal have been handed a major fitness boost ahead of games against West Ham United, Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur next month as 'Saka Cam' showed the winger walking around just fine as he applauded supporters during a lap of appreciation after the game.

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