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Once again, Arsenal were plagued by poor discipline as they lost more points in the Premier League after a disappointing 2-1 loss to Wolves on Tuesday night.
The Gunners were in full control against an unconfident Wolves team, and they deservedly went ahead 1-0 with a fantastic solo goal from Nicolas Pepe.
Arsenal, with a renewed sense of confidence since Christmas, were on their way to another victory, but with only seconds left until the break, a lapse in concentration turned the game completely upside down.
Willian José met the goal with only Bernd Leno to beat before David Luiz accidentally tripped him. Not only did he give away a penalty, but he was shown a direct red card.
The Lobos immediately turned the score in their favor in the space of a couple of minutes, and Arsenal’s task became much more difficult after Leno received his marching orders to deliberately manipulate the ball outside the penalty area.
Things went from bad to worse, and it turned into a miserable night at the office for the Gunners, who continue to be haunted for lack of discipline.
Following Tuesday’s costly loss, Arsenal have racked up nine red cards in the Premier League since Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge of Arsenal on Boxing Day 2019, equivalent to 42 matches.
That’s five more than any other team in the English top flight since the Spaniard replaced Unai Emery.
The referees have also scored the second-most yellow cards for Arsenal (78) since Arteta’s appointment; only Newcastle has more at 81.
Southampton are second in terms of red cards in the Premier League during this period with four, following their two expulsions in their humiliating 9-0 loss to Manchester United on Tuesday.
Everton, Sheffield United, Brighton, Leicester, Crystal Palace, Manchester City, Fulham, Norwich and West Brom have three red cards next to their name in that period from Boxing Day 2019.
Arsenal, who have been playing catch-up all season after a lousy start to this campaign, have five reds in 2020-21 alone along with their four in the second half of the final period.
And most of them have been through crazy moments from seasoned players.
Hector Bellerin made his feelings about Arsenal’s poor discipline known on Tuesday, saying only they are to blame.
‘Hundred percent [we’ve had too many red cards],’ he said.
‘We have shown that when we are 11 against 11 in that field, it is completely different. We were in full control in the first half and probably should have been 2-0 up at the end. We pay for those mistakes.
“I always say that the teams are not beating us, we are losing against ourselves. It is for us to learn. Hopefully this is the last time. We had such a good run, a great momentum, a great confidence in the team.
‘We just have to forget this step because situations like this are not going to happen very often. We will move on to the next one.
Nicolas Pepe was sent off against Leeds for a header on Ezgjan Alioski with the game on the line at 0-0 at Elland Road early in the second half.
Then, former captain Granit Xhaka received a direct red card for grabbing Ashley Westwood by the neck before Burnley beat the Emirates 1-0 amid the horrific form of Arsenal when they failed to buy a win.
Then, with a possible win in the offing against Southampton in their next game at the Emirates, having drawn 1-1, Arsenal were left with everything to do again when Gabriel received a second yellow card for retiring Theo Walcott, who evaded it.
And fast forward to Tuesday night, with Arsenal on the rise against the Wolves. David Luiz became the Gunners’ fourth star this season to be shown red for inadvertently tripping Willian José in the clearing area at goal.
Yes, it was tough and it should be argued that he shouldn’t have given him a straight red given the ‘double jeopardy’ rule, but the fact that Arsenal’s defense was so out of position in the first place leaves many questions hanging.
Ultimately, it cost Arsenal all three points before Leno’s red for a deliberate hand outside the area that made up a miserable night for the visitors.
Aside from the Luiz incident, the other four red cards from this period have been completely avoidable with the team still deep inside with a chance to claim all three points.
With Arteta’s men already catching up, they can’t afford bad discipline if they want to have any chance of clinching a European spot at the end of the season.
And once again, it was Luiz who grabbed the most headlines after Tuesday’s loss. He has now been sent off three times by Arsenal since arriving from Chelsea, and during that time he conceded six penalties.
The seasoned central defender was shown direct reds for similar incidents against Manchester City and Chelsea last season, dropping both Riyad Mahrez and Tammy Abraham in the penalty area.
No other player since Luiz’s arrival at Arsenal has conceded more penalties or been sent off more in the Premier League.
Simply put, Arsenal’s concentration lapses must be eliminated if they are to have any chance of promotion in the Premier League in the second half of the season.
Arsenal are eight points behind Leicester in fourth place after having played one more game and have everything to do to close the gap, even in those places in the Europa League.
And now, without the suspended Luiz and Leno, Arsenal’s task against an optimistic Aston Villa on Saturday has become much more difficult.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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