Arsenal’s 2-2 draw away at Manchester City has been criticised and praised in equal measure, given the circumstances around the result.
Mikel Arteta’s side were 2-1 up and about to head into half-time when Leandro Trossard received a second yellow card for delaying the restart, and they had to contend the second half with 10 men.
Arsenal defended superbly, keeping the home side at bay, but City finally broke through in the dying seconds of the game to snatch a point.
Despite their strong performance with a man down, Arsenal have been criticised in some quarters for aspects of their display, with it claimed that they should have attacked more to try and kill the game off.
Former Liverpool defender and pundit Jamie Carragher is the latest to have a say on the match, and he has now criticised one Arsenal player.
Jamie Carragher criticises Kai Havertz as pass stat emerges after Man City vs Arsenal
Speaking on The Stick to Football Podcast, Carragher highlighted the performance of attacker Kai Havertz, and pointed out a stat that he did not complete a single pass in the 90 minutes.
“This is a great stat: in the whole game – even when they had 11 men for a whole half of football, Kai Havertz did not make one pass. That’s pretty unbelievable. Even for the first 45 minutes when they had 11 men.”
Havertz led the line at the Etihad, but when Arsenal went down to 10, he played a role which saw him try to push forward to win the ball high up, whilst also dropping back out of possession.
Kai Havertz’s stats vs Man City
Havertz completed none of his six attempted passes, but this does not tell the whole story. He was in a role which saw him work harder than most other players on the pitch.
When Arsenal had the ball, he pushed up to try and win fouls in the opposition half, but as soon as City regained possession, he joined the defensive block, meaning he had to track an incredible amount of distance.
Havertz also won more duels than any other player on either side, with three successful ground duels and five aerial duels across the game, highlighting his importance in battling in the air when Arsenal played long balls.
The German has been outstanding as a centre-forward even beyond his goals, and his performance against City was an example of the selfless work he puts in to help the team.
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