Emmanuel Petit thinks swiss international Granit Xhaka was ‘too emotional’ during Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on Saturday.
The Highbury legend was critical of how Arsenal dealt with the phase of play that resulted in Harry Kane scoring from the penalty spot in the first half which, at the time, levelled the scores.
As expected, Spurs hit Mikel Arteta’s men on the break, with Son Heung-min driving through the midfield, playing a one-two with Harry Kane, before playing an overhit through ball to Richarlison.
Despite that, after the ball was crossed into the box, the second ball dropped to Xhaka, who tried to play a first-time ball to Gabriel, but instead, he put his teammate in a spot of bother and he ended up conceding a penalty.
For the 14th time of asking, Kane scored in the north London derby and it ended up being the only moment to shout about for Antonio Conte’s side.
That passage of play was criticised by Petit, who noticed a number of ‘mistakes’, as well as Xhaka being ‘too emotional’ during the first period of the game, as he told Premier League Productions (01/10/22 at 1:25 pm).
“Just kick the ball in the stands,” said Petit. “For me, there are two mistakes from the goal they scored Spurs.
“In the middle of the park, they should have fouled. If I was in midfield, then I would have made a foul and sacrificed myself and got a yellow card. Stop the action. That’s it.
“Xhaka as well, for me, don’t try to put the ball to Gabriel. He’s too emotional in the first half. You could see that. Just kick the ball in the stands, that’s it.”
XHAKA A TRANSFORMED FIGURE
These past 18 months have seen Xhaka go from hero to zero to the surprise of many given where his Arsenal career was at during one period of time.
The hard-hitting midfielder, who has added some attacking threat to his game this season, might not don the captain’s armband anymore, but it still hasn’t stopped him from being a leader without the armband.
During the past two seasons, he has scored two goals and supplied four assists.
Yet after eight games during this campaign, he already has two goals and supplied three assists, which just proves how far he has come in terms of his play in the final third.
