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Premier League legends Paul Scholes and Ian Wright have slammed Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea for his role in Arsenal's opening goal last night.
Arsenal took the lead against Manchester United on Thursday (December 2) in the 13th minute in controversial circumstances. David de Gea fell to the floor after being stood on by Manchester United teammate Fred following an Arsenal corner.
This allowed Gunners midfielder Emile Smith-Rowe to volley the ball into an empty net. Referee Martin Atkinson failed to blow the whistle before the ball crossed the line, and VAR deemed that no foul had been committed.
Paul Scholes and Ian Wright were furious with David de Gea's decision to stay down and deemed the goalkeeper's reaction to be 'embarassing'. Scholes told Premier League Productions (as per Metro):
"That's embarrassing. 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."
The former Manchester United midfielder went on to add:
"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."
Arsenal legend Ian Wright also criticized the Spanish custodian, saying:
"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."
Bruno Fernandes scored the equalizer for Manchester United late in the first-half. Cristiano Ronaldo gave Manchester United a well-deserved lead in the 52nd minute. Martin Odegaard, however, equalized for the Gunners just two minutes later.
The Red Devils were then awarded a penalty in the 70th minute after Brazilian midfielder Fred was fouled in Arsenal's penalty box. Ronaldo converted the penalty to score what proved to be the match-winning goal.
Manchester United's impressive performance against Arsenal a massive source of positivity
Despite conceding two goals, Manchester United delivered an impressive and entertaining performance against Arsenal on Thursday night. The Red Devils created a number of goal-scoring opportunities against the Gunners, who have been good defensively of late.
Manchester United's pressing, work-rate and desire to win the ball back were just a few of the positives that were on display against Arsenal. Their victory also helped them climb up to seventh place in the league table, three points behind fourth-placed West Ham.
Next up, the Red Devils will face a tricky test against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Sunday (December 5) in the Premier League. Manchester United will head into their clash against Partick Vieira's side on the back of impressive performances against Chelsea and Arsenal.
