Saka scores in Arsenal win on return from injury. Forest beats United thanks to Elanga's wonder goal

Bukayo Saka stood with his arms outstretched and a wide, cheeky grin on his face as he took in the acclaim of the Arsenal fans.

It was like he’d never been away.

On his first appearance after more than three months out injured, the England winger scored what proved to be the clinching goal in a 2-1 win over Fulham as Arsenal trimmed the gap to Premier League leader Liverpool to nine points on Tuesday.

Saka — Arsenal's star player and easily its most popular — entered as a substitute in the 66th minute to a huge ovation after his long absence because of a serious hamstring problem. Within seven minutes, he was being cheered again after nodding home Arsenal's second at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the supporters' thunderous reception toward Saka showed how much “people love him and missed him.”

“He lifted the stadium,” Arteta said, while Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice welcomed back “one of the best wingers in the world.”

“He attacks the box and sniffs the goal,” Rice said. "With Bukayo back, it’s a real boost.”

Mikel Merino scored the 37th-minute opener for second-place Arsenal, which requires an unlikely collapse by Liverpool if the London club is to capture its first league title since 2004. Liverpool hosts Everton in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday, after which there are eight rounds left in the Premier League.

Arsenal stayed four points clear of third-place Nottingham Forest, which beat Manchester United 1-0 thanks to a brilliant solo goal by Anthony Elanga — a former United player — to close in on a remarkable qualification for the Champions League.

Forest, which was battling relegation last season, is 10 points clear of sixth-place Newcastle. The top five are likely to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Saka, who has been sidelined since sustaining his injury on Dec. 21 in a league match at Crystal Palace, is back in time to face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals starting next week.

Whether Gabriel Magalhaes will be be available for Arsenal against the European champions remains to be seen. The Brazil center back went off with an apparent hamstring injury in the 16th minute against Fulham.

“I hope he’s OK because he’s been arguably our best player this season,” Rice said, "and we need him for big matches and big occasions.”

Rodrigo Muniz grabbed a stoppage-time consolation goal for Fulham.

Elanga showed Man United what it is missing with one of the goals of the season.

The Sweden winger got hold of possession 20 meters inside his own half in the fifth minute and set off on a run directly toward United’s goal, first shrugging off backtracking opponent Alejandro Garnacho and then entering the penalty area before shooting left-footed into the bottom corner.

Elanga, who left Malmo at age 11 to move to Manchester with his mother and sisters and was soon recommended to United, celebrated in muted fashion against the team that brought him into the pro ranks before selling him to Forest in 2023.

“I appreciate Manchester United so much as I learned a lot there,” Elanga said. “I am enjoying my football (at Forest) and I want to keep on going.”

Forest captain Ryan Yates said Elanga was a “dream” for his teammates.

“Especially us sitting in that low-block — you can give him the ball and he does the rest,” Yates said.

He is now a key player in Forest’s unlikely march toward Champions League qualification for the first time. It won’t be the team’s first time in Europe’s top competition, of course — Forest was famously the European Cup winner in 1979 and ’80 under Brian Clough.

United substitute Harry Maguire had an effort cleared off the line by Forest defender Murillo in one of the last kicks of the game in a dramatic finish at the City Ground.

United stayed marooned in 13th place in what is set to be its worst Premier League finish.

“We should have won this game, not even drawn,” said United manager Ruben Amorim, whose team had 24 shots, “but in the end we have lost three points.”

In the night's other game, Wolverhampton beat West Ham 1-0 thanks to Jørgen Strand Larsen's 21st-minute goal to push further clear of relegation danger.

Wolves stayed in fourth-to-last place but moved 12 points clear of the bottom three.

Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, right, celebrates with Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Arsenal's Gabriel receives medical treatment during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Jorgen Strand Larsen celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game during their English Premier League soccer match against West Ham United at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (David Davies/PA via AP)

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Nottingham Forest's Anthony Elanga, center, scores the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Arsenal's manager Mikel Arteta gives instructions to his players during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Arsenal's Mikel Merino celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Arsenal's Bukayo Saka celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Fulham at Emirates stadium in London, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — After giving a red carpet welcome this week to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza, Hungary announced it would quit the court.

Should Hungary follow through with its withdrawal from the world’s only permanent global court for war crimes and genocide, it will become only the third country in the institution’s history of more than 20 years to do so. The process will take more than a year.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who gave the Israeli leader a welcome with full military honors on Thursday in defiance of the ICC arrest warrant, signed the Rome Statute, which established the court, during his first term in office.

The ICC was established in The Hague in 2002 as the court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities: war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. It takes on cases when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory.

Hungary signed the Rome Statute in 1999 and ratified the treaty on Nov. 30, 2001.

The court’s newest member, Ukraine, formally joined in January, bringing the number of member states to 125. The United States, Russia, China and Israel are among nations that are not members.

Judges at the court have issued 60 arrest warrants and convicted 11 people. Last month, the court arrested former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on murder charges linked to the deadly “war on drugs” that he oversaw while in office.

The Rome Statute lays out the steps a member state needs to take if they want to withdraw from the court. The state party must inform the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the withdrawal takes effect one year after the receipt of the notification.

Announcing it will leave, however, doesn’t free Hungary from its duties under the treaty.

“There is a provision which says that your obligation to cooperate continues for the cases that were ongoing when you were still a party,” Göran Sluiter, professor of international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam, told The Associated Press. “So they still have an ongoing obligation to arrest Netanyahu,” he said.

Zsolt Semjén, Hungary’s deputy prime minister, submitted a bill to parliament to approve the withdrawal, which is expected to pass.

Just two other countries have left the court. The East African nation of Burundi left in 2017 and, in 2019, then-President Duterte withdrew the Philippines after judges allowed the investigation into his drug crackdown that killed thousands to continue.

If Hungary leaves, it will become the only country in the European Union that is not a member of the court.

A three-judge panel issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas’ military chief, Mohammed Deif, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza.

The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza, charges Israeli officials deny.

The warrant marked the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the global court of justice and has sparked major pushback from supporters of Israel, including the U.S.

The ICC criticized Hungary’s decision to defy its warrant for Netanyahu, with the court’s spokesperson, Fadi El Abdallah, saying on Thursday that the court “recalls that Hungary remains under a duty to cooperate with the ICC.”

Human rights groups also have condemned the move.

“Hungary still has the opportunity to arrest Netanyahu — as unlikely as that seems, there’s still time. We expect other ICC members and particularly EU member states who are united in their commitment to the court to press Hungary hard on meeting its clear, legal obligations on arrest,” Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, told the AP.

Last year, Mongolia refused to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin during a state visit. Judges ruled Mongolia had failed to comply with its obligations and referred the matter to the court’s oversight board, the Assembly of States Parties.

Associated Press reporter Justin Spike in Budapest contributed to this report.

FILE - A general view of the exterior of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana, file)