Norwich 0-5 Arsenal: Bukayo Saka hits double as Gunners make it five in a row

Getty Images
Malik Ouzia @MalikOuzia_26 December 2021

Bukayo Saka’s double helped Arsenal make it five straight wins in all competitions as they cruised past a sorry Norwich.

Saka was on target either side of Kieran Tierney’s excellent finish before Alexandre Lacazette and substitute Emile Smith Rowe found the net as Mikel Arteta’s side continued the run of form that has taken them into the Premier League’s top four with a 5-0 win at Carrow Road.

Arteta had rested players for the Carabao Cup win over Sunderland and reverted to the bulk of the XI that started last week’s win at Leeds.

The exception was at right-back, where Takehiro Tomiyasu was absent after testing positive for Covid, but with Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Cedric Soares all also struck with the virus, Ben White was asked to deputise as Rob Holding came in at centre-half.

In truth, neither was worked particularly hard as the Gunners dominated from the outset.

They took the lead inside ten minutes when Tierney won possession in the Norwich half and Arenal shifted the ball quickly out to Saka, who cut inside and found the far corner.

The visitors got the second that their authority deserved shortly before half-time when Odegaard swept out to Tierney and the Scottish international took the ball in his stride before guiding a low finish in off the far post.

AFP via Getty Images

The in-form Gabriel Martinelli thought he had extended the lead when his deflected effort looped in after a superb pass from White but the effort was ruled out for offside.

However, the points were made safe soon after as Saka again shifted inside and whipped home for his second.

Lacazette made it four with a penalty having been fouled by Ozan Kabak, before Smith Rowe came off the bench to score for the third Premier League game in a row to complete the rout.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in