Jamie Redknapp slams 'chaotic' Arsenal pair for their roles in Brighton penalty
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William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes need to take responsibility for Brighton’s equaliser, according to Jamie Redknapp, who has dismissed Arsenal’s gripes about the penalty decision. Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton on Saturday evening after Ethan Nwaneri’s strike was cancelled out by Joao Pedro’s penalty. Pedro won the spot-kick after Saliba was adjudged to have made contact with his head while trying to head the ball inside the area.
The Premier League match centre said that VAR “deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty” and upheld Anthony Taylor’s on-field call, but Arsenal supporters were seething, while Mikel Arteta said he had never seen a decision like it. However, former Liverpool midfielder Redknapp believes the incident was completely avoidable and pointed the finger at Arsenal’s centre-backs.
“When I always think about Gabriel and Saliba I always think of a calmness but as this unfolds there’s a little bit of chaos to their defending,” he said while analysing it on Sky Sports. “Gabriel gets himself in a mess as he’s embroiled with [Yankuba] Minteh. Minteh wins the ball, it’s rash, he’s all over the place.
“Then you can [see] Saliba faces him up and gets in a muddle. Then it’s just [a] reaction – he sticks his head out trying to win the ball. It’s chaotic and it’s not normally what we associate with them. Is it a penalty? I think absolutely. He definitely knocks him to the floor. It was enough to send him down and it was the right decision.”.
