Alan Smith noticed that Arsenal defender David Luiz went mad at Thomas Partey in the 80th minute yesterday, through his comments live on Sky Sports Super Sunday.
With Arsenal 2-1 up and having a numerical advantage on the field, after Erik Lamela’s sending off, the Gunners were expected to cruise home to the three points.
However, Tottenham’s best spell of the game actually came when they were reduced to 10 men.
Arsenal’s players looked slightly nervous as they tried to see the game out, with their passing becoming more and more loose.
Partey highlighted the anxiety going through the Arsenal team, when he attempted to play what should have been a simple back pass to Luiz.
The Ghanaian failed to complete the ball though, after putting too much power on the pass, and allowing Tottenham a chance to score from a corner.
Luiz was clearly irked by the error, and he could be heard shouting, as he gesticulated wildly at Partey.
And Smith said: “He’s just got a rollocking off David Luiz, who is no stranger to those kinds of situations himself.”
Thankfully for Partey, his error was not punished, as Arsenal cleared the corner.
But the incident did rather sum up Luiz’s importance to the team.
Luiz has been hailed as a leader by Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team-mates, and his experience was helpful in seeing his team through to the three points yesterday.
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