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Arsenal legend Martin Keown has hit out at Manchester United defenders Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles for their performances in the Red Devils' loss to the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta's side earned a 3-1 victory over Manchester United at home in the Premier League this afternoon. The Red Devils now find themselves six points behind fourth-placed Arsenal, who also have a game in hand.
Nuno Tavares opened the scoring for the Gunners with a tap-in just three minutes into the match. Red Devils right-back Dalot appeared to be at fault for the goal as he failed to stay with the fellow Portuguese.
Reflecting on the game at half-time, Keown labeled Dalot's defending during Arsenal's opener as 'terrible'. The Gunnes great blasted the the 23-year-old for switching off and failing to tracking Tavares. He said on BT Sport [via The Mirror]:
"Both sides are happy to attack but defensively, it has been poor. Tavares comes down in from the left-hand side and Dalot completely switches off and it is terrible defending, very lazy just swinging a foot at it. Tavares just ghosts in and Dalot has got to stay with him, it is just the basics."
"It is about sensing danger and [United interim manager Ralf] Rangnick mentioned it in midweek about Burnley and not being as good as them defensively. They are basics that you work on there and it is all about concentration."
The Gunners found the back of the net again through Eddie Nketiah in the 27th-minute, but the striker was flagged offside. However, VAR intervened and deemed that Telles had fouled Bukayo Saka in the buildup to the goal.
Arteta's side were awarded a penalty as a result and Saka made no mistake from the spot. Reacting to the goal, Keown criticized Telles' defending during the penalty incident and claimed that the Brazilian panicked before making the foul. He said:
"I think Telles is panicking because he knows that he is on the wrong side [of Saka] and I agree with the [penalty] decision."
It would not be wrong to say that Manchester United full-backs Dalot and Telles had a game to forget at the Emirates Stadium today.
Manchester United miss chance to turn things around against Arsenal
While the Gunners took a two-goal lead just around half an hour into the game, Cristiano Ronaldo pulled one back in the 34th-minute. Bruno Fernandes then missed the chance to score Manchester United's second of the afternoon, failing to convert from the spot just around 10 minutes into the second-half.
Ronaldo then thought he had scored his second of the game in the 60th-minute. However, the 37-year-old was ruled offside. Granit Xhaka went on to ensure the win for Arsenal 10 minutes later, finding the back of the net from outside the box.
