Arsenal legend Ian Wright lays into ‘amateurish’ Bernd Leno for embarrassing fumble that led to Everton’s winner to leave the Gunners languishing seven points off seventh with just five league games to play
- Bernd Leno’s awful blunder from Richarlison’s cross gifted Everton the win
- Arsenal were uninspiring again as they managed just three shots on target
- Ian Wright slammed the goalkeeper and questioned his concentration levels
- Wright also said Leno had been very good at times, but lacked consistency
- Arsenal are on the brink of not qualifying for Europe via league position
- The Gunners sit five points off seventh-placed Liverpool with five games to go
Ian Wright heavily criticised Bernd Leno after the Germany goalkeeper’s comical own goal saw Everton take all three points against Arsenal.
While the club’s fans turned up in their thousands outside the Emirates to call for owner Stan Kroenke to step down, the Gunners were busy disappointing themselves on the pitch as the team had 14 shots, only three of which were on target.
The game looked like it would wind its way to a dreary draw before Richarlison skipped past Granit Xhaka and put a cross into the six-yard box, which Leno could not hold as the ball rolled off his gloves and between his legs into the net.
Bernd Leno is aghast as his blunder gifts Everton victory at the Emirates on Friday night
Ian Wright pulled no punches as he laid into the ‘poor, poor, poor goalkeeping’ of the German
Arsenal legend Wright pulled no punches in his role as a pundit for Optus Sport, saying: ‘You look at that and it does seem very amateurish and I think that comes down to concentration.
‘He does have spells where he’s very, very good. But I’ve seen him rush out, get sent off, give away penalties.
‘He has these moments and that for me is a real moment there. It’s poor, poor, poor goalkeeping.’
Despite his inconsistency, Leno has been one of Arsenal’s more dependable performers in a season in which Mikel Arteta’s men have shown no progress in the Premier League, were unable to defend their FA Cup crown and need to win the Europa League to have any chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
The defeat means Mikel Arteta’s men sit nine points behind Liverpool with five games to go
They currently sit ninth, seven points off seventh-placed Liverpool, having played a game more than the Reds.
Emphatic wins over Sheffield United and Slavia Prague were another false dawn for the north Londoners, as one point from games against Fulham and the Toffees means they realistically need to win all their remaining league games.
The one tonic for Arteta will be that four of those five matches are against teams in the bottom half, but even if they do pick up maximum points in those fixtures, failure to overcome Unai Emery’s Villarreal in the Europa League semi-finals will mean no Champions League football for a fifth consecutive season, with a mass clearout expected whatever happens.
