Arsenal's Bukayo Saka is no longer a rising star, he's the heart of the Premier League favorites

Saka's 10th goal of the season set Arsenal towards a 4-0 win over Everton

When did "star boy" begin to feel like a grossly insufficient label for Bukayo Saka? For all that it must be very nice to be described in such a fashion, there is a sense of incompletion to Saka's nickname. It suggests the idea that he is still a nova, that he is yet to develop the gravitational force of the Premier League's very greatest. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. If there is one thing that unites the best players in this league -- and by extension in world football -- it is that they only need half an opening to change the course of the contest. The Emirates Stadium had that hammered home to it last month; Takehiro Tomiyasu undercooked a pass back to Aaron Ramsdale, who was trapped in no man's land. Still, if Kevin De Bruyne were to score he would need to hook the ball around and over the Arsenal goalkeeper at full tilt, getting enough power on it to outrun recovering defenders without overcooking a shot that might naturally loop or even bounce over the bar. Of course, he did.

Make a mistake against the very best in the league and they will make you pay. And so it was when Everton's largely exceptional defense left a gap on the right corner of the penalty area, Saka filled it before a blue shirt could spot the danger. Oleksandr Zinchenko slipped him into the first prime position an Arsenal player had found all night but there was still plenty to do. His first two touches allowed him to get in stride but the angle was narrowing and with Vitaliy Mykolenko in hot pursuit, there would be no time to take a touch to move the ball onto his stronger left foot.