Our 5-0 win over Sheffield United was a particularly memorable occasion for Bukayo Saka.
Our academy product, who joined the club as an eight year old, was handed the captain’s armband for the first time, leading the side out at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Afterwards the winger could not hide his pride and delight at skippering his boyhood club. “I don’t really know how to describe it,” he beamed. “You know me and you know where I’ve come from: the academy. To be at the front, leading the boys out today was just unbelievable. I’m lost for words - it’s hard to describe this feeling. It’s just amazing.
“I enjoyed it. It was a different experience. Obviously I was learning on the job. Sometimes I didn’t know where I was supposed to be! But in the end we played well, which was the most important thing. We got the three points.”
And that was largely thanks to his fellow Hale End graduate Eddie Nketiah, who blasted his first Premier League hat-trick to give us a three-goal lead.
“Three great goals,” Bukayo said, “especially the last one. It was unbelievable. That’s a man playing with confidence and hopefully he can continue to play like that.
“He’s also a man who works so hard, day in, day out. Not everyone sees it but I see it and if you ask the boys, they see it. He deserves this moment and he needs to enjoy it tonight for sure.”
The win put us back up to second place in the league, and rounded off an excellent week, after our 2-1 Champions League win in Spain on Tuesday.
“It’s looking good,” he said. “We need to continue to build on this. Next week is going to be even harder, with two tough away games, but we’ll be ready and hopefully we can have a week like we just did.”
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