Arsenal secured a 2-1 victory against Fulham, highlighted by Bukayo Saka’s emotional return from a three-month injury absence.
The England forward, who hadn’t played since December 21, made an immediate impact after coming off the bench in the 65th minute by heading home Gabriel Martinelli’s flick to double Arsenal’s lead.
Mikel Merino continued his impressive goalscoring form as a makeshift striker, netting his fifth goal in eight matches with a deflected strike to open the scoring. Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz scored in stoppage time, but it came too late to threaten the result.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described Saka’s return as “a beautiful moment,” praising the player’s character: “Immediately after scoring what does he do? He goes and says thank you for all the hard work all the sports science guys and physios have done for him.”
However, the victory was overshadowed by defensive injuries to Gabriel and Jurrien Timber, creating significant concerns for Arteta ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid next Tuesday. Gabriel was forced off with a hamstring issue in the 16th minute, while Timber required treatment before eventually being substituted.
These injuries compound Arsenal’s defensive crisis, with Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori already sidelined. Arteta acknowledged the challenge but remained resilient: “The good thing is that it’s been like this the whole season… How we have managed to be where we are, with all those injuries…”
Meanwhile, Fulham manager Marco Silva maintained perspective after the defeat: “We lost tonight, but we didn’t lose the season. We are going to fight really hard to bounce back” as his team continues their pursuit of European qualification.
