Bukayo Saka will remain Arsenal’s penalty taker despite his costly miss against West Ham, manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
The England winger sent his spot-kick wide at the London Stadium last weekend in a pivotal moment of the match, just minutes before the Hammers equalised for 2-2 through Jarrod Bowen.
It was the second time in a week that leaders Arsenal had blown a two-goal lead to draw, leaving them only four points clear of Manchester City at the Premier League summit. Pep Guardiola’s defending champions have a game in hand and host their rivals at the Etihad Stadium in a potential title decider next Wednesday.
The miss was Saka’s first from a penalty since the final of Euro 2020, when England lost to Italy in an agonising Wembley shootout, and Arteta has backed him to continue to step up in the biggest moments.
“He loves responsibility, but he puts a lot on his shoulders as well,” said the Arsenal boss before Friday night’s key home game against rock-bottom Southampton.
“Again, if he had any doubt about how much people love him, respect him and admire him at the club, I think he had a very overwhelming reaction from everyone in the building.
“In the end, I think it can be something very positive that can give him a big lift because everyone acted in an unbelievable way towards him because he deserves it because of the way he is.
“Experiences help obviously and what he went through [at Euro 2020] was tough, but in a different way it was something beautiful and a great experience for him.
“I think that helped him, not only him but the people around him as well to understand what the reaction has to be, the support and protection that he needs and he will go again.”
City are not in League action this weekend as they instead face Championship side Sheffield United in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley on Saturday. As a result, Arsenal can create a seven-point buffer ahead of next week’s clash at the Etihad if they beat struggling Southampton on Friday.
“What we can say is that our players have full belief in what we do,” said Arteta. “They do know that what is at stake is incredibly beautiful and we are going to fight for it.
“Twists and turns are part of anything that you do, especially in football, whatever the aim or the target is.
“It is not always going to be a linear progression. You have to know that and you have to be prepared for that.
“The way the team reacted was incredibly positive and we want to see that tomorrow night when we get onto that field.”
