Gary Neville slams Arsenal stars Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey for defensive mistakes in North London Derby
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has slammed Arsenal stars Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey for their roles in the Gunners' 2-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Sunday.
First-half goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min gave Tottenham Hotspur another win in the Premier League, as they continued their stint at the top of the Premier League. Spurs are level on points with Liverpool but are ahead on goal difference after 11 Premier League games.
Arsenal suffered their sixth loss of the Premier League, to put manager Mikel Arteta under even more pressure. Arsenal currently sit 15th in the Premier League, with 13 points from 11 games.
Since beating Manchester United early in November, Arsenal have picked up one point from four league games and have scored one goal in that period.
For the game against Spurs, Arteta sprung a surprise as summer signing Partey was included in the starting XI, despite indications before the game that the Ghanaian might not have been fit enough to last the entire game.
Partey was close enough to Son when he was running at the Arsenal defense to score Spurs's first goal, but he couldn't close down the Korean. Son then unleashed a vicious curling shot that gave Bernd Leno no chance in the Arsenal goal.
Harry Kane doubled the home side’s lead on the stroke of half-time when Son teed up the England captain to give Spurs a two-goal cushion heading into the interval.
Gary Neville believes Arsenal duo Gabriel and Partey should've closed down Harry Kane quicker
Neville, who was on commentary duty for the game with Sky Sports, didn't react kindly to both Gabriel and Partey following the opening goal that Son scored.
"Who’s got Harry Kane?" Neville asked.
"Gabriel, you can’t let him there… that yard. Partey as well, they’ve got to be quicker to him. Two yards off him is too far away and then you’re in trouble. They all drop off.
"It’s a brilliant strike and he’s capable of that."
Arsenal conceded the second goal to a counter-attack as well. Giovani Lo Celso carried the ball forward from the back and fed Son. The South Korean then played Kane through, and the Tottenham star blasted the ball past Leno at his near post.
Arsenal have a Europa League dead rubber coming up on Thursday against Dundalk, but next week's Premier League game is huge for them. They welcome Sean Dyche's Burnley to the Emirates Stadium.
A loss against Burnley will only heap more pressure and bring up more questions about Arteta's future at the club.