It took one minute for Bukayo Saka to reduce Noni Madueke back to the bench

Noni Madueke was handed his second start on the bounce - but this time, on a different side of the attack. He played phenomenally at the weekend off the left, but he played poorly tonight off the right.

He was subbed off after 65 minutes, but to be honest, it's a surprise he even lasted that long. The signs were there within the first five minutes, when Madueke stood out as being Arsenal's weak point.

Bukayo Saka silenced his biggest critics; Noni Madueke made his louder

There is a very strange conspiracy theory against Bukayo Saka right now. Neutrals, and even some Arsenal fans, are being overly negative about his start to the season, but if you watch him each week, he doesn't stand out as being bad. If anything, playing him in the Arsenal team brings a net positive.

Saka is adapting his game to lean more into attacking numbers, and to be fair to him, he is on pace for some pretty good attacking numbers this season.

As much as he wants the team and his teammates to do well, Madueke's performance couldn't have gone any better for Saka. If there was even the slightest chance that Madueke was auditioning for Saka's spot in the team, it was an overwhelming failure of an audition.

The reason why Madueke's performance was so bad was his wasted opportunities. He was whipping in cross after cross, and I can't remember a single one of them being good. They all felt too deep, even when players were in promising positions throughout the box.

You can say many things about Saka, but one thing you cannot say is that he's a bad crosser. If it were him playing crosses in the box rather than Madueke, Arsenal would have scored a handful of goals tonight from crosses alone.

Madueke, in fairness, was good at dribbling. But we know this anyway. Unfortunately, he leaned heavily into his stereotype of being a great dribbler with an awful end product.

Next up, Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. I have never been more hopeful that Saka will start a game, but he is certainly in line to.

Despite only coming on in the 65th minute, Saka was one of Arsenal's biggest winners from that game. Anyone calling for him to be benched heading into tonight has been left with an egg on their face.

Saka took no time at all to improve the game, and he did what Madueke had spent the entire game trying to do - register a successful cross. Providing Eberechi Eze for Arsenal's second and then scoring his own for Arsenal's third, Saka officially ended any Madueke debate before it could even happen.

Saka should only be benched for rotation or precautionary purposes, not for tactical reasons. Arsenal are a far better team with him in it, and tonight, he proved that.

The difference between Arsenal's attack in the first half and the second half was night and day. Saka was the catalyst for changing the game for Arsenal, and where he won tonight, Madueke unfortunately lost.

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