Mikel Arteta Makes Arsenal Penalty Taker Decision After Bukayo Saka Miss Against West Ham.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed Bukayo Saka will continue taking penalties for Arsenal after his crucial miss at the London stadium against West Ham on Sunday.
Saka failed to extend the Gunners lead as he missed from the spot while his team was 2-1 up against West Ham.
Had he scored, the win would have earned Arsenal a valuable three points as the season reaches its climax.
The Hammers went on to punish their London rivals who threw away a two goal lead, with Jarrod Bowen scoring moments later to draw the game.
The 2-2 draw means that Arsenal are now just four points ahead of second placed Manchester City having played a game more.
They still sit top of the Premier League table, but will need a result from their top-of-the-table clash with Man City at the Etihad stadium on Wednesday, April 26. The game is being billed as a title decider.
Despite his age, Saka is recognised as Arsenal's talisman. The England international forward has been named as the club's Player of the Season in each of the last two years, and he is enjoying another superb season scoring 12 goals and providing 10 assists in the Premier League.
He was further subjected to horrific racial abuse being posted and shared on social media after the penalty miss. The abuse has echoes of what he and his England teammates Marcus Rashford and Jason Sancho received nearly two years ago when they missed a crucial penalty for the three lions in the Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley.
Sunday was the first time he would be missing a penalty in the Premier League, beating Edouard Mendy, David de Gea, Alisson and Ederson in his other four attempts.
The 21-year-old later apologised to the club's fans via Instagram for missing the penalty on Sunday. "Regardless of the outcome, I’ll always accept my responsibility. Apologies Gunners, I’ll do everything I can to make it right"... He wrote.
His fellow teammates Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Magalhaes replied to the Instagram post with messages of support, while former Arsenal captain Alexandre Lacazette also reached out.
Current skipper Martin Odegaard wrote: "All together bro always, we keep going."
Arsenal boss Arteta insist that he has not lost faith in Saka's penalty-taking ability, and has backed him to bounce back from the miss.
The academy graduate has been a big part of Arsenal's success as they push for the title.
"If I had to pick one player to do it, it would be him again," Arteta told reporters. "In that moment we missed it and this is football.
"If you are prepared to take responsibility of penalties, you have to be prepared that in that package the possibility to miss is 100 per cent," added the Spaniard.
"At some point you're going to miss.
"You have be able to react to that after. If you cannot do that then you cannot be a penalty taker. Bukayo has been through that and he will go through that again."
The Gunners will win the Premier League title if they can win their remaining last seven games.
They are next in action on Friday night when they host bottom of the table side Southampton.
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