Saka’s Arsenal return sinks Fulham but Gabriel and Timber add to injury crisis

The Arsenal fans had come to see Bukayo Saka and when he took off his tracksuit, primed to enter as a 66th‑minute substitute, red shirt vividly lighting the scene, it is fair to say there was a reaction. It was mainly release. The three months without Saka have been hard, ­Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge slipping away as he recovered from a ruptured hamstring.

There was certainly a script to be written and, Saka being Saka, he set about it. Arsenal have an incredible home record in the league against Fulham – 24 wins, seven draws and no defeats before this. They were on their way to another victory thanks to Mikel Merino’s heavily deflected goal on 37 minutes, the latest return from the club’s makeshift No 9.

Saka brought the house down. It was Gabriel Martinelli, so fast and purposeful throughout, who ignited the move and when he got the ball back from Merino, the flick was improvised but made to measure for you-know-who. Saka’s header was true. Welcome back, Bukayo. And just in time for the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. The first leg is here next Tuesday.

It was not all roses for Arsenal. They could shrug off Fulham’s late revival, as Marco Silva’s team pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Rodrigo Muniz, who was on as a substitute. The striker had missed a glorious headed chance on 81 minutes while another Fulham substitute, Ryan Sessegnon, went close before the end of regulation time. Muniz scored after a Sessegnon run and with a deflection off William Saliba. Arsenal wobbled and yet a Fulham equaliser would have been too much.

What left rather more of a mark on Arsenal’s evening were the injuries that forced off Gabriel Magalhães and Jurriën Timber. With Riccardo Calafiori sustaining a knee problem in the international break with Italy and Ben White feeling pain in his knee, Mikel Arteta is facing a defensive injury crisis at the worst moment.

Gabriel had turned on the afterburners in the 13th minute when Adama Traoré surged upfield on a Fulham break only to feel ­something pop. He soon realised he could not continue. As one hamstring repairs, another goes. Gabriel’s replacement, Jakub Kiwior, endured a few anxious moments and it was easy to imagine that Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior would be taking note.

Timber’s problems started when he moved to block a Raúl Jiménez shot on the half-hour and appeared to be caught by the Fulham striker’s follow through. He battled on only to depart towards the end, Arteta ­saying the issue was to do with his knee.

It was a night when Arteta was never going to risk Saka from the start. Still, there was no mistaking the buzz that his presence brought. The announcement of Saka’s name before kick-off drew a guttural roar. There was warm applause from the home crowd when he made his first warm-up run along the touchline on 24 minutes.

The Arsenal support also chanted their old song about Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, who was back at his old club in Fulham colours. But there was not much else for them to cheer in the first-half until Merino did it again, forcing the breakthrough, albeit with a dollop of fortune.

View image in fullscreen Gabriel Magalhães is a huge doubt for Arsenal’s first leg against Real Madrid next Tuesday after he was forced off in the first half. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Silva has made Fulham a tough nut to crack. His team do not concede many shots. He set them up with three centre-halves here, the formation was 5-4-1 against the ball and Arsenal struggled to create, despite Martinelli’s best efforts. The first half was coming to an end when Ethan Nwaneri finally got in behind, making a run off Antonee Robinson and on to Timber’s cute pass.

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Nwaneri had caught the eye with his close control in tight spaces, his feints. He also made a sweet connection on a volley in the 22nd minute from a Martinelli cross only for it to be too close to Bernd Leno. Now, he went inside for Merino but his teammate looked to be surrounded.

All Merino could do was jab a shot towards the near post that Leno seemed to have covered, especially as it lacked power. Which was when fate intervened, the ball hitting Jorge Cuenca and flying into the other corner. It was Merino’s fifth goal in eight games since his move to centre-forward.

Silva was upset at how flat his team were in attacking terms before the interval and he refused to blame a hangover from the FA Cup defeat at home against Crystal Palace on ­Saturday. But Fulham were better in the second-half, Jiménez slicing up the inside right to work David Raya and Traoré robbing Kiwior before dragging wide.

Arsenal had their moments, too. Martin Ødegaard flickered. Timber blasted at Leno. Martinelli wowed with some of his incisions.

And then came Saka.

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