Arsenal fans claim they ‘have moved on’ Oleksandr Zinchenko and BLAST his display 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 more chances
- “He has no excuse for diving!” Will Bukayo Saka learn from his Bayern tumbling? listen to It’s All Kicking Off podcast
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Arsenal fans have been left stunned by Oleksandr Zinchenko’s defending during their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday.
The Gunners missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League when they fell to late goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins.
Mikel Arteta’s side were uncharacteristically poor defensively and conceded three big chances at the Emirates – more than half as many as they had conceded in their previous 11 league games.
Several members of the Gunners squad failed to repeat the performances that put them in the driver’s seat to win a first league title in 20 years. And Zinchenko may have been at the top of the list with a series of mistakes, one in particular that has drawn attention from supporters on social media.
Deep into the second half, Villa launched a ball behind the Arsenal defense that had worked in unison to maintain their high defensive line. All but the Ukrainian, who had dropped five yards deeper than his team-mates to cover Bailey’s run, rather than allow him to run into an offside position.
Oleksandr Zinchenko has come under fire from Arsenal fans following their defeat to Aston Villa
In the clip, Zinchenko can be seen several yards deeper than the other Arsenal defenders
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The 27-year-old’s lack of awareness shocked many fans, with some claiming the club have outgrown the former Manchester City defender.
‘This is a tough watch,’ wrote the user on X, formerly Twitter.
“We’ve simply moved beyond this guy.” Started another one. ‘Our left back area is being targeted by everyone, at the moment we don’t have anyone good enough to play there. must be a priority in the summer.
A third said: ‘If he ever starts a game for Arsenal again with a full team… It’s ineptitude of the highest order. Gives the ball away. Gives us nothing with the ball. Has defended horribly all season.’
Zinchenko’s move from the Etihad last summer was crucial in Arsenal’s transition to a Premier League title chase. The full-back is known for his quality on the ball and is regularly turned by Arteta to create overloads in the middle of the pitch.
However, not only has his offensive contribution diminished this term, but his defense has also been lacking.
Villa did not create a goal-scoring opportunity due to Zinchenko’s lack of concentration, but he did share some of the blame for the visitors’ opener after he was caught in no man’s land on the right before seeing Bailey tap the ball in from the area, which he should have. been stationed.
Some Arsenal fans took to social media to slam the defender’s display against Unai Emery’s side
Leon Bailey was in acres of space at the far post and turned in Lucas Digne’s cross for the opener at the Emirates
In another instance, the full-back was relieved to see Youri Tielemans’ cannon off the post cross the bar and then post after the Belgian claimed possession from Zinchenko’s giveaway.
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 difficult trip to Molineux to face Wolves.
