Arsenal fans claim they ‘outdid’ Oleksandr Zinchenko and BLAST his performance against Aston Villa – as footage of defender’s one-man offside line goes viral
- Arsenal missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League table
- The Gunners defense was not at its best on Sunday as they gave away several chances
- “He has no excuse to dive!” Will Bukayo Saka learn from his fall at Bayern? Listen to the It’s All Kicking Off podcast
Arsenal fans were left stunned by Oleksandr Zinchenko’s defending in their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Gunners missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League as they fell to late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins.
Mikel Arteta’s side were uncharacteristically poor defensively and gave away three big chances to the Emirates, more than half of what they had conceded in the previous 11 league matches.
Several members of the Gunners squad failed to replicate the performances that put them in the driving seat to win a first league title in 20 years. And Zinchenko may have topped that list with a litany of mistakes, including one in particular that caught the attention of his supporters on social media.
Deep in the second half, Villa launched a ball behind the Arsenal defense who had been operating in unison to keep their defensive line high. All except the Ukrainian, who had slipped five meters deeper than his teammates to cover Bailey’s run, rather than letting him end up in an offside position.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has faced heavy criticism from Arsenal fans following their defeat to Aston Villa.
In the clip, Zinchenko can be seen several meters further away than the other Arsenal defenders.
The 27-year-old’s lack of awareness has shocked many fans, with some claiming the club has outgrown the former Manchester City defender.
“It’s a tough watch,” one user wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“We just passed this guy.” I started another one. “Our left backcourt is targeted by everyone, currently we don’t have anyone good enough to play there. It has to be a priority in the summer.
A third said: “If he starts a game again for Arsenal with a full squad… This is nonsense of the highest order.” Give the ball. With the ball, it gives us nothing. Defended terribly all season.
Zinchenko’s departure from the Etihad last summer was vital in Arsenal’s transition into a Premier League title-chasing side. The full-back is known for his quality on the ball and is regularly reversed by Arteta to create overloads in the center of the pitch.
However, not only has his offensive contribution been reduced this season, but his defense has also been lacking.
Villa failed to create a goal-scoring opportunity thanks to Zinchenko’s lack of concentration, but he shared some of the blame for the visitor’s opener, having been caught in no-man’s land on the right before seeing Bailey tap the ball from the area he should have had. been parked.
Some Arsenal fans took to social media to criticize the defender’s performance against Unai Emery’s side.
Leon Bailey had an acre of space at the far post and converted Lucas Digne’s cross for the Emirates opener.
In another instance, the full-back was relieved to see Youri Tielemans’ shot hit the post’s crossbar and then off the post after the Belgian claimed possession of Zinchenko’s gift.
Sunday’s result leaves Mikel Arteta’s side two points behind leaders Manchester City with six games remaining. The team travel to Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before a tricky trip to Molineux to face Wolves.
