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'We've shown the level we can play at' - Bukayo Saka reacts after dominant Arsenal victory over Sporting

'We've shown the level we can play at' - Bukayo Saka reacts after dominant Arsenal victory over SportingGetty Images

Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Champions League with a dominant 5-1 victory at Sporting CP on Tuesday, allowing the Gunners to leapfrog the Portuguese side in the standings.

The North Londoners fell 1-0 to Inter Milan on the previous matchday, but Tuesday's emphatic win allowed the club to finish the day in seventh place as they look to qualify for the next round of the continental competition.

Despite Sporting's daunting record at the Estádio José Alvalade, where the hosts had yet to lose a match this season, Arsenal were committed to leaving Lisbon with all three points, scoring early and often throughout the contest.

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Gabriel Martinelli got the scoring underway in the seventh minute, with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Gabriel Magalhães adding goals in the first half. Saka was next to score for the visitors, slotting home what the 23-year-old called "an important penalty" 20 minutes into the second half before Leandro Trossard notched Arsenal's fifth and final goal of the night in the 82nd minute. 

Such was the nature of the victory that Saka noted after the match that his teammates were brimming with confidence in a tough environment.

"We know they haven't lost here this season but we believed in ourselves," Saka told TNT Sports. "Everyone was top, I'm really proud of all the boys today."

One player who didn't score on Tuesday was Martin Odegaard, whom Saka gave plaudits to after the Arsenal captain recently returned from a lengthy injury. In the three starts Odegaard has made after recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out for two months, the Gunners have won twice and drawn the other.

"He's an unbelievable player," Saka said of Odegaard. "The day he returned, there was a big smile on my face. You can see the chemistry we have. I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.

"This is where we belong. We've shown the level we can play at."

 

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