Not just Saka: Arsenal’s “silly” £230k-p/w disaster may’ve just cost Arteta the title
Arsenal once again failed to hold onto a two-goal lead for the second weekend in a row, putting their chances of winning the Premier League title in danger.
They now face a crucial match against defending champions Manchester City. During their recent game away from home, Mikel Arteta’s team took an early lead with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
However, West Ham fought back and could have even won the game, starting with a penalty from Said Benrahma before halftime.
In the second half, Jarrod Bowen scored for the home team, just moments after Bukayo Saka missed a penalty that would have put Arsenal 3-1 up with 30 minutes remaining. Bowen had a fantastic game and caused problems for Arsenal all afternoon.
The England team’s key player can expect to receive a lot of criticism, particularly after a particularly poor performance. However, he was not the only star who failed to perform for Arteta’s team at the London Stadium.
During his 67 minutes on the pitch, Thomas Partey had a terrible performance in midfield, which is unusual for him as he is currently Arsenal’s most dependable and highest-rated central midfielder (with a rating of 7.24 before the match, according to WhoScored).
His careless flick near his penalty box resulted in a turnover in possession and forced Gabriel Magalhaes to make a mistake, leading to the penalty that was scored by Lucas Paqueta. Partey also received a yellow card in the first half due to several rash and cynical fouls.
According to Sofascore, the £230k-per-week player was rated as Arsenal’s worst performer with a rating of 6.1, and it is clear to see why. Apart from the incidents mentioned earlier, he was also dribbled past twice, and he only won three duels out of a total of nine contested, with a failure rate of 66.6%.
Only two other starters had fewer touches of the ball than him (50), namely goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and left-winger Martinelli.
Even with the limited possession he had, the midfielder failed to create a single key pass or shot, and he only managed one defensive contribution through a solitary tackle.
Simon Collings, a journalist from the Evening Standard, heavily criticized Partey in his post-match column. He wrote that the player never really seemed to be in the game and that he was responsible for giving the ball away near the box, which led to the West Ham penalty. Partey was substituted with 25 minutes remaining and was replaced by Jorginho. ‘Never really looked at the races all game. Contributed to the West Ham penalty by giving the ball away near the box. Hooked with 25 minutes to go for Jorginho.’
It seems that other journalists were equally critical of Partey’s performance. Sam Dean, a reporter for the Daily Telegraph, described the £45m player as “silly” and “dumb,” while Jordan Campbell from The Athletic felt that he looked “shaky” during the early stages of the match.
Regardless, it was certainly one of the worst performances of the season for the 29-year-old, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for Arsenal, who risked losing their title hopes in a dreadful fashion against West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
Not just Saka: Arsenal’s “silly” £230k-p/w disaster may’ve just cost Arteta the title