Troy Deeney’s analysis of Arsenal’s Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen was absolutely bizarre.
Heading into the second leg of the round of 16 level with Bayer Leverkusen after the first leg ended 1-1, Arsenal knew they had work to do at the Emirates.
The Gunners got the job done with an impressive 2-0 victory, progressing to the final eight of the Champions League with a 3-1 win on aggregate.
Arsenal were rampant in attack to put the criticism about them to bed, but in Troy Deeney’s eyes, the game unfolded differently from what the statistics suggest.
- READ MORE: Forget Eberechi Eze, Arsenal star with five key passes was the actual MOTM vs Bayer Leverkusen
Troy Deeney thinks Barcelona will knock Arsenal out of the Champions League, but which team do YOU fear most?
Troy Deeney’s analysis of Arsenal’s win over Bayer Leverkusen made no sense
Like most pundits this season, Deeney has been critical of Arsenal, making a bit of a hobby out of shining a negative light on Arteta’s side.
Speaking on CBS Sports after the win over Leverkusen, the pundit was still unable to wholly praise, what was, a tremendous Arsenal performance.
“I think they won the game; they were great. It still took a massive save from David Raya to keep a clean sheet; they still gave up moments,” Deeney said.
“Again, it’s a game of football with two teams. I thought on the performance side of it, Bayer Leverkusen were better. I think we agree they play the better stuff.”
In Deeney’s eyes, Bayer Leverkusen were the better side, which is, quite frankly, nonsense.
That’s no disrespect to Leverkusen, who were an incredibly tough opponent, but Arsenal were the worthy winners of the tie, as the numbers emphasise.
Troy Deeney says ‘Bayer Leverkusen were better’, what’s your response to him?
The numbers speak for themselves, as Arsenal had more than double the shots Leverkusen had, more than double the shots on target they had, and almost double the number of touches in the opposition box.
The statistics suggest one-way traffic, which is what those who watched the game can verify.
Well, except Deeney.
His words were disappointing, but unsurprising, as the pundit has been rather harsh about the Arsenal squad this season.
From Deeney preying on Viktor Gyokeres’ downfall to prove his doubts right, to his recent comments doubting the Gunners’ performance level against Leverkusen, perhaps it’s time for the former striker to refrain from commenting on Arsenal.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
