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Criticized Arsenal Premier League forward Bukayo Saka has beaten Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and other standout performers on matchday day one of the new Premier League season to the best Premier League player of the week.
Saka was heads and shoulders ahead of others during Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Emirates last Saturday.
The England international assisted Kai Havertz with a precise cross for the opener before producing a moment of brilliance to help Arsenal open the campaign with a victory.
Saka’s performance against the Wanderers earned him a rating of 8.72 by whoscored.com, which is more than that of Salah and Haaland, who helped Liverpool and Manchester City beat Ipswich Town and Chelsea, respectively.
Interestingly, Salah and Haaland were excluded from the Team of the Week as Kai Havertz, Danny Welbeck and Kaoru Mitoma were deemed to have been better forwards on the opening matchday.
Saka criticized for diving against Wolverhampton
In the 31st minute of the clash, an incident occurred between the Arsenal winger and Wolves centre-back Toti in the penalty area.
Saka dashed into the penalty area to take control of a pass and was hastily followed by Toti who touched him at the back before the Arsenal star fell to claim a penalty but was ignored by centre referee Jarred Gillet.
The 22-year-old’s action was not well received by fans who called him out for the incident on X.
One said: “he needs to stop this nonsense”
Another remarked: “Yellow card all day long. This is ruining the game”
Another user said: ‘Once a diver always a diver”
