Bukayo Saka marked a milestone appearance with the only goal of the game as we extended our lead at the top of the table.
Our academy product played his 300th game for the first team on Wednesday night, becoming the fourth youngest player in our history to the landmark, and celebrated with the match-winning goal after just nine minutes.
He cut in from the right before firing a left-footed deflected effort through Bart Verbruggen, and it was enough to secure all three points.
After the game Bukayo spoke about his pride on a special night for him personally. “Yeah I’m very proud, very happy,” he said.
“I feel very blessed. It’s a beautiful day for me and my family. To top it off with a massive win and a goal, I’m so grateful. Let’s just keep going like this. Let’s keep enjoying this journey and continue like this.”
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Only David O’Leary, Cesc Fabregas and Liam Brady reached 300 Gunners appearances at a younger age than Bukayo (24 years and 180 days) and it was fitting he marked it with a goal – his 79th for us.
“I had an action before where I thought I could have been a bit more direct,” he said. “When I got the ball next, I said I’m going to be direct and go for it. I did that, cut in and took a shot. I didn’t know how it went in initially, but a goal’s a goal, so we’ll take it!”
Our No. 7 said it felt like a significant win, as we stretched our lead at the top of the table to seven points.
“We fought for it. In the end, we got the win, we got the result we wanted. Yeah, we just feel good about it.
The games keep coming. We keep getting results and that’s the way we need to keep going. We’ve got another one today, so we’re happy. We just need to keep continuing like this.”
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Highlights: Brighton 0-1 Arsenal
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