Martin Keown questions Arsenal defending as Erling Haaland could 'strut around' during Manchester City win
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ByEurosport
Updated 27/04/2023 at 08:30 GMT
Martin Keown made his name at the heart of one of the most organised defences in British football history, first under George Graham and then Arsene Wenger. Having seen Mikel Arteta's men lose 4-1 to Manchester City on Wednesday night, he picked out the failures of the current side's defence to properly defend against City's star striker Erling Haaland.
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Martin Keown questioned Arsenal’s defensive efforts as Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne combined to blow away Mikel Arteta’s side in the title blockbuster.
Haaland is typically handed chances by his Belgian team-mate, but this time the roles were reversed, with De Bruyne scoring twice from his assists in a convincing 4-1 victory at the Etihad.
Speaking on BT Sport after the game, Keown insisted "you can’t allow Haaland strut to around", and suggested Gunners defender Rob Holding could have been more physical with the Norwegian, who out muscled him for a long ball to set up De Bruyne for the opening goal.
Discussing the problems for Arteta, Keown continued: “The manager had a dilemma, he wanted to go and press with set pieces particularly.
"We have to be careful we don’t go over the top with criticism because of what Arsenal have achieved this season. Okay, they haven’t won anything, but they’re first and second place."
He turned to the De Bruyne-Haaland combination, adding: “As a combination, these are possibly the best we’ve ever seen in the Premier League. This long ball, you either win that ball or you create a foul.
"This was happening too often, they were second best too often. 4-1 flattered Arsenal, it could have been six or seven.”
Guardiola watched his side demolish the closest challengers for this year’s Premier League title, as De Bruyne scored either side of John Stones’ goal at the end of the first half.
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'Our destiny is in our hands' - Guardiola reacts after City thrash Arsenal
Haaland made it 4-1 deep into second half injury time, and the three points from the victory cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to just two points.
The situation is made worse for Arteta’s men because City, still in the Champions League and FA Cup, have two games in hand to play. If they win them both, then City would go four points clear at the top of the table with only a handful of games remaining.
Speaking after the match to BT, Guardiola explained how life had changed for City with Haaland, an out-and-out striker.
“Erling is an incredible threat … in a previous season with a false nine we played very different, but his connection with Kevin is extraordinary and we tried today to use it as much as possible.
“From the first minute we had incredible focus, every game we try to win and move forward.”
With a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid still to come, Guardiola’s focus is now on the Premier League run-in.
He continued: “The next three games are really important. Fulham on Sunday, what Marco Silva has done is unbelievable. After two games at home against West Ham and Leeds, these three games will dictate.
“The reality is we are behind Arsenal, they are two points in front of us, game by game, we will see what happens.”
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