Arsenal of England winger, Bukayo Saka has received a shower of plaudits from analysts and fans, following his sterling performance as a ‘make-shift’ central midfielder in The Gunners’ FA Cup victory over Wigan Athletic.
Sports247 reports that the Nigerian-born England international had initially been listed to start Sunday’s match on the bench, but was hastily sent on to feature in midfield after Riccardo Calafiori got injured during the warm-up.
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Arsenal’s coach, Mikel Arteta quickly had a rethink, reshuffled his strategy and sent on Saka as captain in an unusual midfield role, which changed the gaffer’s tactical plans for the game before it even started.
A report for the game by UK’s Daily Mail added, “Myles Lewis-Skelly was due to play in midfield. It gave Mikel a chance to try another and Saka started there instead.
“Saka showed just how versatile a footballer he is. He frequently collected passes from defence with his back to goal and laid them off with all the neatness and tidiness of a grizzled general.
“He was key to Arsenal’s third goal, too, as he made a fine underlapping run into the box to receive the ball from Madueke on the wing and saw his dinked cross turned into his own net by Jack Hunt.”
Sports247 further reports that additional information from Transfermarkt revealed, “Saka last started a game in Arsenal’s central midfield in April 2021 and he had done so in just five of his near 300 matches for the club.”
