Giovanni van Bronckhorst has praised Arsenal defender Cedric Soares on Stadium Astro for the way he defended against Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford.
Cedric was involved in a controversial incident with Bamford in the second half of the Premier League game between Arsenal and Leeds at the Emirates Stadium in North London on Sunday evening.
With Leeds trailing Arsenal 4-2 in the second half, the English striker went down inside the Gunners’ penalty box after running through alongside Cedric and Gabriel.
No penalty was given, and the Gunners eventually went on to win the game in North London.
While Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool legend Graeme Souness suggested on Sky Sports that it was a penalty, former Arsenal star van Bronckhorst believes that it was good defending from Cedric.
Van Bronckhorst said on Stadium Astro: “He just goes in front of him, so I think it’s very smart defending. To stop his run, you are allowed to run in front of the attacker to block the run as long as you don’t foul him, so I think for me it was not a penalty. VAR decided the same. I think it was very good defending from Soares.”
Deserved win for Arsenal
It was a controversial decision, and if Leeds had won the penalty and scored from it, then it would have been very tricky for Arsenal.
However, given how the Gunners played, especially in the first half when they were 3-0 up, one can safely say that Mikel Arteta’s side deservedly won the game.
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