Man United keeper David de Gea slammed by Paul Scholes and Ian Wright after Arsenal opener

Paul Scholes and Ian Wright both SLAM David de Gea for his ’embarrassing’ role in Emile Smith Rowe’s opener for Arsenal in the Gunners’ loss to Manchester United


Paul Scholes and Ian Wright both described Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea as ‘embarrassing‘ after the Spaniard went to ground after a corner leaving Emile Smith Rowe to score a bizarre Arsenal goal. 

Early on in Thursday night’s clash between the two rivals at Old Trafford, De Gea challenged for a corner and feigned injury straight away, with Arsenal youngster Smith Rowe firing the ball home while the goalkeeper was on the ground.

VAR checked the incident and it showed De Gea was stepped on by his own team-mate Fred, leaving Martin Atkinson no choice but to award the goal. 

Paul Scholes and Ian Wright have described David de Gea (above) as ’embarrassing’ for the Manchester United goalkeeper’s role in Arsenal’s opener on Thursday

De Gea went to ground with injury which allowed Emile Smith Rowe to score the opener

De Gea went to ground with injury which allowed Emile Smith Rowe to score the opener 

Former United midfielder Scholes claims there was ‘nothing wrong’ with the United goalkeeper, who he believes should have been stronger to stay up and try and stop Smith Rowe’s shot. 

‘That’s embarrassing,’ said Scholes on Thursday night. ‘You protect your goal, you do anything to stop a goal.

‘To turn away, to not even look, there’s clearly nothing wrong with him. He’s done himself.

‘I don’t think there’s much wrong with it. De Gea should be there, protecting his goal at all times. It doesn’t look that bad to me. The goal had to stand. 

Scholes claimed there was 'nothing wrong' with De Gea and he should have been stronger

Scholes claimed there was ‘nothing wrong’ with De Gea and he should have been stronger

Former Arsenal striker Wright agreed with Scholes, claiming that the fact De Gea immediately remonstrated with the referee when the goal went in showed that there was nothing wrong with him.

Wright added: ‘When you see David de Gea after the goal, he’s so incensed that he sprints after the referee.

‘My problem with that is there’s not enough seriously wrong with him to go down. For me, that’s embarrassing.

‘De Gea should be getting up after that to try to save it and then go down after if there is something wrong with you.’

Ex-Arsenal striker Wright (above) joined Scholes in describing the incident as 'embarrassing'

Ex-Arsenal striker Wright (above) joined Scholes in describing the incident as ’embarrassing’

United went on to turn the game around and win 3-2, in what was caretaker boss Michael Carrick’s final match in charge of the Red Devils. 

Carrick described Smith Rowe’s opener as ‘very strange’ and revealed his delight the eventual victory. 

‘At least I don’t have to talk too much about the Arsenal goal because we could have been here all night,’ smiled Carrick. ‘If it had been the winning goal it would have been a different conversation. Very strange.’

Referee Martin Atkinson (left) gave the goal as replays showed De Gea (right) was stepped on by his own team-mate Fred

Referee Martin Atkinson (left) gave the goal as replays showed De Gea (right) was stepped on by his own team-mate Fred

Midfielder Bruno Fernandes thought that referee Martin Atkinson should have stopped the game after teammate Fred trod on De Gea’s ankle.

‘Normally when the keeper goes down, we should stop the game but mistakes happen. I don’t know if the referee made a mistake but we have to carry on,’ said Fernandes.

Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta thought the goal should have stood. ‘We didn’t know what to expect but the referee and VAR checked and it’s a goal,’ he said. 

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