Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright has criticised Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Thomas Partey’s “poor” performances against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Partey saw a few shots go high and wide and struggled to dictate the tempo of the game in the middle of the park, while Aubameyang was hauled off for Alexandre Lacazette at the Amex Stadium.
The Gunners were fortunate to come away with a point from a clash which Brighton largely dominated, and Wright was not impressed with the displays of two of the visitors’ most senior players on the field.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Wright said: “It would be easy to get carried away with that result last week [the win over Tottenham Hotspur] because they were fantastic, but this was a very well-drilled Brighton side in difficult conditions and a very young Arsenal side.
“I thought Aubameyang today, unfortunately, was poor, I thought Partey was poor. I thought Martin [Odegaard] didn’t play very well. We know what Brighton are going to do, we need to keep the ball and get the counter-attack going. We could not do that today.
‘Everything was bouncing off Aubameyang. When he got into opportunities he couldn’t quite get it out of his feet. It just wasn’t happening for him. It was an off day; we saw how sharp he was last week.”
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has also urged his side to improve after the stalemate, and the Gunners will now prepare for the visit of Crystal Palace after the international break.
Partey tried to score but failed miserably, and was constantly robbed of possession.
The former Atletico Madrid star took three shots and none was on target, played one key pass, had a pass accuracy of 78.6%, took 58 touches, and made two tackles, two intercessions and two clearances.
Partey will hope to perform much better next time he takes to the pitch for Arsenal.
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