Bukayo Saka hauled Arsenal back into contention against Manchester City from the penalty spot in their top-of-the-table clash on Wednesday evening.
The Premier League leaders were handed a lifeline by referee Anthony Taylor as City’s Brazilian shot-stopper Ederson clattered into Gunners striker Eddie Nketiah inside the box.
Ederson burst off his line to try and close the space down between himself and the impeding attacker but got it all wrong as he missed the ball and ended up taking out Nketiah’s trailing left leg.
Saka ensured the resulting chance was converted, and Lionesses legend Eni Aluko boasted that the Arsenal star had demonstrated his ‘mental strength’ to score from the spot.
‘That’s what mental strength looks like with Saka, he has history with penalties we know that but he always defeats history’ Aluko told Amazon Prime Video.
‘There was a lot from Ederson to put him off, he doesn’t let it faze him and that is what mental strength looks like.
‘He didn’t take his chance early in the game, didn’t faze him, that’s a great penalty, the game is in the balance. It’s important Saka continues playing well and taking these one-v-ones,’ she added.
Aluko was most likely referencing Saka’s troubles from the penalty spot for England at Euro 2020 that saw the 21-year-old miss his spot kick to hand Italy the tournament title at Wembley and deny England a historic piece of silverware.
He along with Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were the victims of targeted social media abuse in the fall-out of England’s final defeat but refocused his efforts at club level to become one of the Premier League’s most potent wingers.