Arsenal star with 64% pass completion among three players who let team down vs Aston Villa
Arsenal suffered only their second loss of the season so far as a late Emi Buendia strike saw Aston Villa emerge 2-1 victors on Saturday afternoon.
An open first-half saw Aston Villa take the lead before the interval as Matty Cash latched onto Pau Torres’ cross to fire through David Raya‘s legs.
Arsenal hit back early in the second period as Leandro Trossard forced it home following some good play by Bukayo Saka down the right-hand side.
Emi Buendia made the Gunners pay for some missed chances as he bagged in the fifth minute of added-time after a melee in the penalty area and it ended 2-1 to the hosts.
Arsenal are still top of the Premier League table but will be reeling after such a late defeat, and Football Insider have picked out three of Mikel Arteta‘s players who struggled the most on Saturday (6 December).
Eberechi Eze
Eze lost Cash for Villa’s 36th minute opener as Torres’ deflected cross found the right-back and he made it 1-0 with real aplomb.
The Gunners playmaker thought he had given Arsenal the lead prior to that, but his tap-in was ruled out due to Saka being offside in the build-up.
Eberechi Eze has been key to Mikel Arteta’s side this season since his summer arrival from Crystal Palace,, but he failed to impress in this game as he did not create a chance, take a shot on goal, or even touch the ball in the Villa penalty area.
Arteta hooked him off at the break for Leandro Trossard, who soon equalised for the Gunners and performed much better despite their late 2-1 loss.
Mikel Merino
Mikel Merino has been Arteta’s go-to at centre-forward in Viktor Gyokeres’ absence over the last few weeks.
The Spaniard featured up-front last season too, so has a lot of experience in the position, but he was completely absent against Villa here as he was also substituted at the break.
Merino completed just seven of his 11 passes (64% accuracy), while he also failed to have a shot on goal, took just one touch in the Villa box and won one of five attempted ground and aerial duels.
Arsenal fans want to see Gyokeres starting games now that he is back fit, and that is surely set to be the case from now on after Merino’s poor showing and their loss.
Riccardo Calafiori
Riccardo Calafiori has struggled with injuries this season and has not necessarily been at his best in recent weeks after recovering from a knee problem.
The Italy international was given the nod at left-back once more at Villa Park, and his inconsistent form continued as he was overran by Cash and John McGinn down the right flank before picking up a booking for hauling down the latter as he tried to counter-attack late on.
He looked shaky all afternoon after Cash’s goal had come from his side, and is a loser among his teammates as he will now be suspended for their next league game against Wolves due to picking up a fifth yellow of the campaign.