Arsenal have suffered their first defeat of the season at the Emirates Stadium against Manchester United.
The Gunners went into the game as the favourites to win it and even took the lead through a Lisandro Martinez own goal in the first half.
Mikel Arteta’s side looked comfortable at that point, but as Gary Neville said, they started making too many mistakes after scoring.
The biggest of them all came from Martin Zubimendi, whose misplaced pass sent Bryan Mbeumo through on goal to level the game.
Michael Owen and Micah Richards, however, think it’s not all Zubimendi’s fault.
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Michael Owen and Micah Richards blame William Saliba for Martin Zubimendi’s mistake vs Manchester United
Arsenal had a great start to the game and were cruising.
As soon as Martinez put the ball into his own net after Martin Odegaard’s shot, everybody felt that the Gunners would score a few more and seal the game.
However, almost immediately after the goal, Arsenal looked like they had forgotten how to play football. They made multiple unforced errors, gave the ball away many times and put themselves in danger.
Zubimendi’s shocking pass led to Manchester United’s equaliser, but Richards and Owen feel William Saliba is to blame as well.
The former Manchester City man said on Sky Sports at half-time: “Yes, it was Zubimendi’s mistake. But the way he (Saliba) gave him the ball, it was always difficult.
“You only had one place to go – go back to the keeper. He misplaced it, and then they get punished.”
Owen added on Premier League Productions during the break: “Zubimendi is going to get the blame and deservedly so. He has almost got a picture in his head that ‘I’m going to go back to the goalkeeper’.
“But it’s a horrible ball from Saliba. It’s too hard, and it’s bouncing. He can go wide, and he can play it into Declan Rice. He chooses not to. Saliba then bounces a fast-ish ball into him.”
Who was at fault for Bryan Mbeumo’s goal vs Arsenal – Martin Zubimendi or William Saliba?
Arsenal struggled even after Zubimendi and Saliba’s mistakes
Mistakes happen all the time, and this Arsenal side have shown many times in the past that they are capable of bouncing back.
Gabriel Magalhaes did against Bournemouth exactly what Zubimendi did against Manchester United, but he made up for his mistake and helped his side win that game.
On Sunday, after Zubimendi and Saliba’s errors, no Arsenal player seemed ready to take the game by the scruff of its neck and go for it.
It was all too predictable, there was a real lack of aggression, and as much as it hurts us to say it, United wanted it more in the second half.
This is absolutely unacceptable, and we’re sure Arteta would’ve made that clear to his players after the game.
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