Arsenal legend Ian Wright singles out ‘naive’ star for criticism and claims Man City ‘set traps for him’ in crunch clash
IAN WRIGHT has singled out one Arsenal star for his “naive” performance against Manchester City.
The Gunners, previously unbeaten at the Emirates, fell to defeat against Man City to cede first place in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola‘s serial winners made the most of Arsenal errors to run out 3-1 winners as Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland all got on the scoresheet.
Takehiro Tomiyasu was the culprit for City’s first goal, with De Bruyne anticipating a back pass and lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Bukayo Saka fired the North Londoners level from the penalty spot after Eddie Nketiah was brought down in the area by Ederson.
But the game’s next goal from Grealish came courtesy of City forcing a turnover from Gabriel.
And Arsenal legend Wright feels Gabriel was the epicentre of the Gunners second half collapse.
Speaking on Premier League productions, he said: “We were very fortunate that he didn’t give away a penalty because he was offside but for me the pass [for Grealish goal] is into nowhere.
“City are setting traps for him there and as soon as they win the ball, bang, they get the ball back and Haaland’s awareness for a striker was very good because he could have easily had a shot but he’s made sure that he passed it on so that they definitely get the goal and go in front.
“For me it came down to a bit of naivety and inexperience but they are the youngest team in the league and you’re going to get those type of mistakes.
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“For me Gabriel doesn’t know where it’s going. That’s going to be a problem and it was.”
Haaland rounded out the match by scoring his 26th league goal of the season.
Arsenal are now winless in three league matches, having lost to Everton and drawing controversially to Brentford.
Up next, they face a test against Mikel Arteta‘s predecessor Unai Emery when they visit Aston Villa.
However, Wednesday’s game has now tipped the balance of power back in City’s favour in terms of who are now favourites to win the title.