Arsenal Legend Dissects Gunners’ Poor Defending On Harry Kane’s Winner

By The Editor
on 10th February 2018

Martin Keown pinpoints where our defenders went wrong in that crucial moment…

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Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown ridiculed Laurent Koscielny’s positioning after he allowed Harry Kane to rise above him and head home the winner in the north London derby.

After what was a largely cagey first-half, Spurs came out from the break with a totally different mindset and could’ve killed the game off in a matter of minutes.

It looked like our players were still mentally in the changing rooms, and Kane punished us once again from a routine cross as he towered above our defenders.

For Keown, however, Koscielny’s position before the cross was delivered was unforgivable, creating too much of a distance between himself and the Spurs man – allowing him to bully the Frenchman in the air.

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“I would be obsessed with Harry Kane if I was out there today, making sure I was bumping him, that he doesn’t get a run at the ball,” Keown said on BT Sport.

“He’s the difference between the two teams today.”

Kane has now scored seven goals in seven games against us – that’s ‘Drogba territory’.

One would’ve hoped that our players would aim to make life as difficult for him as possible, and not allow him the freedom of the pitch to potentially nick a hat-trick.

This was our first real test after what was a rejuvenating transfer window, and it’s only exposed the flaws in this team run deeper than just personnel.