Bukayo Saka’s inability to complete Sunday’s North London derby raised concerns about the winger’s health ahead of a crucial week, according to Mikel Arteta.
Four minutes from time, Gabriel Magalhaes settled an exhilarating but scrappy north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham, which saw the England winger substituted by Ethan Nwaneri. Arsenal won 1-0.
Arsenal takes on Europa League winners Atalanta on Thursday to kick off their Champions League campaign, and on Sunday they travel to Manchester City, their title rivals.
When asked about Saka’s status, Arteta replied: “I don’t know. I made two changes with the front players and suddenly he’s down. I looked at the bench and the options that we had and we had to adapt. I don’t know exactly what it is but he could not continue.”
Declan Rice, a midfielder for Arsenal, was suspended, and the team was without six senior players—including Martin Odegaard—due to injuries. Nwaneri was one of five adolescents sitting on the bench.
Arteta talked up his team’s “thick skin” after a crucial three points, saying that his side’s selection issues only made his players more eager for the match.
“Super happy obviously,” the Spaniard said. “We know what it means to our club and our people to win a North London derby. We have the power to make them very happy so hopefully we achieved that.
“On the performance we had good moments and others where we had to suffer.
“We suffered because we had to adapt the plan because of the players that we had available. I loved it.
“The second we started to get that news, the team got hungrier and hungrier to play that game. It’s a big compliment to everybody at the club to behave in a certain way. It’s a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses we did the opposite. We faced the challenge, played with courage and acknowledged the qualities we had to win the game.
“We have people that are hard and have thick skin. They love the game and we love winning. In order to love the game and win you have to do things that people call ugly. Enjoying those ugly things is a big compliment to this team right now. When you’re able to do that normally you get a good gift.”
