Saka Sets Premier League Record In Victory Over West Ham

Bukayo Saka became the second youngest Arsenal player to record 100 goal involvement for the club in their 2-0 win over West Ham on Saturday.

The English forward scored the second goal from the penalty spot after Declan Rice opened the scoring in the 38th minute.

It was a record-setting day for Saka as he made his 200th appearance for Arsenal in the Premier League.

He also made his 100th goal involvement with 55 goals, and 45 assists since making his debut for the club in 2019.

Cesc Fabregas at the age 23-years and 237 days is the only player to reach the milestone at a younger age than Bukayo Saka, at the age of 24-years and 29 days.

Saka’s 200 games consist of 181 starts and 19 substitute appearances, and total 115 wins, 41 draws and 44 losses.

Saka is the 18th Arsenal player to achieve this milestone in the Premier League era, and the 79th overall in our history to feature in 200 league matches.

He is the eighth Arsenal player to reach 100 goal involvements in the competition, and the third Englishman after Ian Wright (123) and Theo Walcott (108).

He is the seventh-youngest player across the league to hit that feat, and the youngest since Romelu Lukaku in February 2017.

The 24-year-old was delighted to set the record while describing the victory as beautiful.

Saka said: “There’s a lot to celebrate – a beautiful win, another goal and 200 [Premier League] appearances as well. So, happy days. “I’m very proud, I don’t take these moments for granted, especially the last few months when I’ve had to miss games and watch from the stands as I’ve been injured. I’m going to enjoy it tonight and come back after the break ready to go again.

“I just want to give my best, give my best for my teammates and try and push this club to win.

“I’m feeling good that I’ve got the 90 minutes out of the way now. Towards the end, I’m a bit tired if I’m honest, but that’s normal. But, yeah, I’m happy to get the 90 minutes in my legs and get a win and go away to England, because I’ve had to miss a lot of games for the national team too. So, I’m happy to be back there.

“We’ve had some really tough fixtures, some tough away fixtures. But I think we can be happy with what we have now going into the break, and we’re in a strong position to come back and push on to the end of the season.”

Similarly, Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Saka following his new record.

He said: “When you look at those numbers, 200 games, 100 goal involvements, it’s unbelievable. His age, what he’s doing, the manner that he’s doing it as well, really impressive. That’s the kind of players that we need to achieve what we want.

“We know how difficult those games are going to be but we wanted to come here because we had some very difficult fixtures, playing some of the top teams, some of them away and with some big injuries as well.

“We had to adjust a lot of things with some players who were coming as well from big injuries and surgeries in the first few weeks of the season. So it’s been a challenge but the team has been, I think, very convincing in performances and results and it’s a good platform now to continue.”

Up next for Arsenal after the international break is a trip to Fulham after the international break while West Ham will take on Brentford.