Jamie Carragher was left disappointed with one player during the north London derby between Tottenham and Arsenal – and says he has been ‘very poor all season’.
A bad-tempered first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw a host yellow cards handed out by referee Jarred Gillett, while both sides were wasteful in front of goal.
Arsenal took the lead on 68 minutes through Gabriel Magalhaes’ header from a Gunners corner.
Spurs pressed forward for an equaliser but couldn’t find it, with Arsenal winning their ninth Premier League away games in 10 attempts in 2024.
Taking to Twitter during the match, Carragher took aim at one Spurs player in particular for his performance – defender Cristian Romero.
He simply tweeted: “Romero’s start to the season has been very poor!”
Romero played every minute in five of Argentina’s six games in the Copa America during the summer, and was rested for their final group game.
That included 120 minutes in the final against Colombia, which Argentina won.
He returned to Spurs in time for the beginning of the season, and has also played every minute for Ange Postecoglou’s side this term.
The powerful centre-back was sent forward with minutes left to help Spurs get an equaliser against Arsenal, but the equaliser couldn’t be found.
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Gary Neville has slammed the defending from Cristian Romero after Gabriel powered over the Tottenham Hotspur defender to put Arsenal ahead.
After a fiery and relentless first-half which saw the home side dominate the ball, Mikel Arteta’s side have finally found the breakthrough with their incredible ability to score from set pieces yet again guiding them through a tight contest.
With arguably their entire midfield missing the game with Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino forced to watch from the stand with injuries while Declan Rice is serving his one-game suspension, Arsenal fans were not as confident in their side as they would’ve normally been coming into the fixture.
This showed in the early stages with the Gunners relying upon the heroics of goalkeeper David Raya to keep them from going behind.
But it was immediately obvious after coming out for the second half that Arteta’s side were more settled as they were able to maintain a period of possession.
The visitors then got their noses in front in typical fashion, with Brazilian centre-back Gabriel powering his header into the back of the net from a whipped-in corner.
Gary Neville not impressed with Cristian Romero
Speaking on the goal for Sky Sports, Neville highlighted Romero’s lack of awareness prior to the header with the Arsenal defender able to create some space inside the area with co-commentator Peter Drury describing it as “a monster leap on a monster day in North London”.
“The goalkeeper’s rooted,” Neville said.
“He heads it three yards out, he’s free, and Romero, the centre-back, is picking up Gabriel.
“It’s really poor from the Argentinian, but I’d want my goalkeeper to come for it. He gets blocked and then he ends up rooted.”
Considering their injuries coming into the contest, a win for Arsenal will be huge for their confidence with a face-off against Manchester City on the horizon.
