Arsenal’s 4 games winless run in the Premier League continued after an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Manchester City at Etihad on Wednesday night. Arsenal are now two points above Manchester City, but Pep Guardiola’s side has two games in hand.
The Gunners were sloppy in defense, especially Rob Holding could not contain Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker imposes himself on Arsenal defender Rob Holding paving the way for Kelvin De Bruyne to score a brace on the night, with Erling Haaland providing two assists.
Former Arsenal player Martin Keown has slammed Rob Holding for defending against Erling Haaland.
What did Martin Keown say about Rob Holding defending against Erling Haaland?
He said via BT Sport: “If I was playing, Haaland would be all I was thinking about.
“Holding lost that battle. The very first challenge that’s where they concede the first goal.
“You’ve got to put your marker down; you’ve got to be physical, maybe take a booking. But Haaland is just strutting around that pitch, and it looked really easy at times.
“That’s something these young Arsenal defenders are going to have to learn, and learn quickly.”
Reacting to Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City, Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta believes the better side beat Arsenal.
He said after the game: “We knew that we were going to need our best as a team and individually; when you come here, you need to be at your best. Today we were far from that.
“The better team won the game. They were probably at their best in the first half, and we weren’t at our level. In terms of the basics, we didn’t do it.
“I don’t think they [his players] were scared, but the way we started the game, we put ourselves in trouble in many situations. When that happens, we cannot grab the game the way we want.
“The stats at the start of the season said we’d finish sixth or seventh, and we are where we are. There are still five games to go.
“I’ve been in this country for 22 years, and things have changed a lot. They’re an exceptional team, but we are an exceptional team as well.
don’t know what is going to be required [to win the league]. For sure, we have to lift the players up first because they suffered tonight. We need to do everything that we’ve done so far so well and start winning.”
Artate’s side hopes to bounce back from their four games winless run when they face Chelsea at Emirate on Tuesday. Chelsea are struggling and are closer to the relegation zone, done with the top four.
Frank Lampard will also be eyeing the Arsenal game to turn their fortunes around in the London derby. A defeat against Arsenal will means Frank Lampard is still winless in his last five games as Chelsea’s interim manager.
