Arsenal legend Ian Wright has criticised David Raya and Declan Rice for a pair of ‘rash’ decisions which he felt gifted Tottenham a route back into this weekend’s north London derby.
The Gunners held on to secure a 3-2 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but it could – and probably should – have been far more comfortable for Mikel Arteta’s men given they held a three-goal advantage at the halfway stage.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal got Spurs off to a nightmare start and Bukayo Saka struck to double the visitors’ advantage inside half an hour – the England forward’s 15th goal in the top flight this season.
Arsenal further increased the deficit as Kai Havertz headed past Vicario in the 38th minute, with the Premier League leaders once again wreaking havoc from a corner, leaving Spurs with a mountain to climb in the second period.
But Cristian Romero capitalised on a woeful kick from Arsenal goalkeeper Raya in the 64th minute before Tottenham captain Son Heung-min scored from the penalty spot – after Rice’s foul on Ben Davies – to set up a tense finish in north London.
The away team kept hold of their narrow advantage to keep the pressure on champions Manchester City but legendary ex-Arsenal striker Wright felt his former club were fortunate not to have been punished for their mistakes in the second half.
‘I knew it was going to be a tough day for Ben Davies because you could see, we’re talking about a player [Bukayo Saka] who knows what the derby means,’ Wright said on Premier League Productions.
‘It’s that time of the season where it was more about the performance and making sure you do perform and he did. He caused Ben Davies lots of problems and he had to go off at the end.
‘But I was really pleased with the way they were so in control of what they needed to do, especially once Tottenham got back into the game.
‘They’ve done so well to get to this point. You can’t do rash things which is what the we saw the goalkeeper do, unfortunately.
‘Even the penalty that we given away was quite a rash decision to make from Declan, simply because of where the ball is. There’s going to be a player in and around it and you’ve got to be a lot more careful about that.’
A relieved Wright said the result was the ‘main thing’ for Arsenal and praised Saka for the run he made to double the visitors’ lead in the 27th minute.
‘The main thing was getting the three points. That’s the main thing,’ Wright added.
‘What is great about that [Saka’s goal], when you’re watching a lot of the strikers now, is the blatant nature that they just go forward.
‘They’re not looking along the line, the margins are so tight and they know the offsides can be fractions.’
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