Europa League: Nigeria-born Saka dazzles as Arsenal crush Frankfurt

Bukayo Saka provided a man-of-the-match display to help Arsenal to a thrilling 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening game of the Europa League.

The Nigeria-born teenager scored a lovely goal and set up another as the Gunners beat Eintracht Frankfurt flat in their Europa League Group F opener in Germany on Thursday night.

Both teams had missed a series of quality chances before Arsenal opened the scoring on a 38th-minute counter-attack, with Joseph Willock firing home with the help of a wicked deflection to beat Kevin Trapp.

The host tried to get back in the game after going behind but Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez made some quality saves as the Gunners held firmly to their 1-0 lead at the break.

With the second goal not coming, Arsenal brought in their record signing Nicolas Pepe on the hour mark to rescue the situation but the Gunners could not extend their lead.

Frankfurt’s bad case got worse just before the 80-minute mark when Dominik Kohr picked up his second yellow card for a foul on Saka, leaving his team to finish with 10 players.

The depleted Frankfurt team were made to pay when Saka finished off another rapid-fire counter-attack with an unstoppable left-footed shot.

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The enterprising youngster moments after took advantage of a defensive miscue to set up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Arsenal’s third to reach the final scoreline.

Next up for Arsenal in the Europa League is a home match against Standard Liege on Oct. 3, while Frankfurt are away to Portuguese club Guimaraes on the same day.