Arsenal icon Ian Wright explains why Eddie Nketiah got lucky v Tottenham

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Arsenal legend Ian Wright believes Eddie Nketiah was fortunate to avoid a red card against Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw by Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners turned in a lacklustre performance, with Eddie Nketiah amongst those who struggled most.

The 24-year-old striker was tasked with leading the line by Mikel Arteta, whilst Gabriel Jesus filled in on the left flank due to the injuries recently sustained by Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Despite nominally being the focal point of Arsenal’s attacking contingent, Nketiah barely got into the game. He was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes, but according to WhoScored statistics, he recorded just 23 touches of the ball, only one shot, zero key passes, eight passes, and three unsuccessful touches. He also only completed 75% of his attempted passes.

The Hale End academy graduate was largely anonymous throughout this fiercely contested clash of rivals, with his most notable involvement being his reckless challenge on Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.

Nketiah gets good luck on bad day

Nketiah was attempting to prevent Vicario from playing a pass, but lunged in with a late sliding tackle after the ball was long gone. His foot was high and his studs were raised, and he was perhaps only spared an instant dismissal by virtue of his leading foot narrowly missing Vicario’s shin. However, the tackle was potentially very dangerous.

Ian Wright certainly thinks the £100,000-a-week attacker was lucky not to be sent off. Assessing the incident on Match of the Day 2, the former Arsenal striker said, “it’s one where I think he’s fortunate simply because the ball was gone. I think he was totally committed to it. I don’t know if it was because of frustration at how the game was going for him…I feel he was very fortunate to stay on.”

Nketiah certainly was lucky to avoid a red card, but Arteta will still be extremely disappointed with the striker’s overall performance against Spurs. Far better is needed if Nketiah is to stand any chance of nailing down a starting place in this Arsenal team.