Ally McCoist criticised ‘poor’ 22-year-old Arsenal star after what he did in first-half last night

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Ally McCoist criticised Bukayo Saka after the Arsenal forward missed a fantastic chance to test Diogo Costa in the early stages of Tuesday night’s Champions League last 16 tie with Porto at the Emirates.

The Gunners booked their spot in the quarter-finals, with David Raya making two penalty saves in the shootout to see Mikel Arteta’s side through.

Arsenal did manage to end their run of five straight home defeats in the knockout stages of the Champions League. But they did make hard work of getting through to the next round.

Ally McCoist critical of Bukayo Saka in Arsenal

Certainly, Bukayo Saka was one of those who had a disappointing night. Wendell did a good job up against the 22-year-old. And when the time came for the Arsenal star to produce a moment of quality, Saka often seemed to fluff his lines.

That included a header six yards out in the first 15 minutes, where Saka went nowhere near hitting the target. And speaking on TNT Sports (broadcast on 12/3; 20:16), Ally McCoist suggested that he should have done so much better with the opportunity.

“He had to. I’m just wondering if the little fella should’ve got across him. It looked initially as if he had a half yard on him. I’m just wondering. Lovely ball in from Trossard, played with pace. Yeah, it’s a poor header you know. It comes off Saka, he does get in front of him. He just wants to get a glance on it,” he said.

Winger entitled to off-day

If anyone is entitled to have an off night, it may well be Saka. The youngster sparked Arsenal’s recent run with a stunning spell in front of goal.

But Arteta will be desperately hoping that he is not going off the boil at the worst time. The Premier League title race looks set to go down to the finest of margins. And of course, tougher tests will lie ahead in the Champions League if they are going to go further.