Bukayo Saka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang giggled like two naughty schoolboys as they were shown back footage of the youngster’s audacious nutmeg following Arsenal’s comprensive 4-0 win over Newcastle.
Man of the match Saka put it through Newcastle debutant Valentino Lazaro’s legs before setting up Nicolas Pepe to score the Gunners’ second goal of the game at the Emirates.
The silky assist took the 18-year-old’s tally to eight for the season in all competitions, more than any other player in Arsenal’s squad.
“Whoops…” ð
Bukayo Saka relives his nutmeg and assist for Arsenal’s second goal v Newcastle
ð± Recap #ARSNEW here: https://t.co/2yatcOdwmC pic.twitter.com/Q9chUYkDLu
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 16, 2020
After the game, Saka told Sky Sports: ‘As soon as I passed it to him [Aubameyang] I saw the space and I exploited it. I saw it was a 2v1 situation, but I always see it as 1v1. The coach sets it up so I can have a lot of 1v1’s [in the game].’
When interviewer Jamie Redknapp asked what happened next, Saka replied, ‘nutmegs’, with Aubameyang branding the youngster ‘le petit piment’, which translates from French into ‘little chili’.
Saka continued: ‘I looked towards Eddie [Nketiah] first because I like to cross behind the defence, but I saw that it was quite tight. The cutback was on so I put it through the gap and it was a good finish from Pepe.’
After a slow start to the game, Mikel Arteta’s side came out firing in the second half, with Aubameyang, Pepe, Mesut Ozil and Lacazette all finding the back of the net.
When asked what changed at the half-time break, Saka said: ‘I feel like we just brought energy to the game. In the first half it was all a bit slow, they were defending really deep and really well and compact so we struggled to get through.
‘But in the second half I feel like they couldn’t match our energy and we just kept going, playing combinations and they just couldn’t handle us.’
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