Wednesday’s briefing: Scoring return for Saka as Elanga haunts United | OneFootball

Bukayo Saka scored on his injury comeback to help Arsenal cut the gap on runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool to nine points.

Anthony Elanga returned to haunt former club Manchester United as Nottingham Forest maintain their Champions League charge, while Manchester City revealed the extent of Erling Haaland’s ankle injury.

Elsewhere, Wolves took another significant step towards safety to push Ipswich, Leicester and Southampton closer to relegation.

Saka’s back with a bang

Bukayo Saka celebrated his return as Arsenal recorded a 2-1 win against Fulham at the Emirates Stadium.

Saka ended his 101-day absence when he came off the bench shortly after the hour mark, and the England international had been on the pitch for just seven minutes when he doubled the Gunners’ advantage.

Saka’s header, which followed Mikel Merino’s first-half opener, provided a huge lift for Arsenal on a night which saw defender Gabriel limp off in the 16th minute with a hamstring problem.

Gabriel’s injury casts a major doubt not only over his availability for Arsenal’s first-leg Champions League clash with Real Madrid next week, but for the rest of the season too.

Elanga haunts former employers

Anthony Elanga’s stunning solo goal saw Nottingham Forest maintain their Champions League push with a win against the forward’s former club Manchester United.

Fresh from reaching their first FA Cup semi-final in 34 years, Forest continued their remarkable campaign by completing a top-flight double against the Red Devils.

United academy graduate Elanga did the damage with an electrifying early run and a low strike that proved enough after Murillo cleared Harry Maguire’s stoppage-time effort off the line to seal third-placed Forest a 1-0 victory.

Club World Cup hope for Haaland

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola announced striker Erling Haaland faces a lay-off of up to seven weeks.

The prolific Norway international suffered an ankle injury in the second half of Sunday’s 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final victory at Bournemouth.

Haaland, 24, will be absent for most of the rest of the domestic campaign but City are hopeful he will still be able to play some part and then feature at the Club World Cup.

Guardiola said: “All the injuries that we’ve had this season – I’m so sorry for them and for Erling as well. We want him to recover as quickly as possible and come back.”

Bottom three left Strand-ed

Jorgen Strand Larsen’s first-half strike moved Wolves 12 points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with a 1-0 home victory over West Ham.

Vitor Pereira’s side were five points from safety when he replaced Gary O’Neil but successive league victories for the third time this season eased the Molineux club closer to safety.

Ipswich and Leicester have only nine games left to overhaul what is starting to look like an insurmountable deficit.

Rock-bottom Southampton are 20 points adrift with only 27 available.

What’s on today?

In the pick of six Premier League fixtures, Liverpool can restore their 12-point lead at the top in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield.

City, without Haaland, host second bottom Leicester, while Brighton versus Aston Villa could have a significant impact in the race for European qualification.

Newcastle host Brentford, struggling Ipswich travel to Bournemouth and beleaguered Southampton take on Crystal Palace.