‘He hasn’t’… Paul Merson slates 23-year-old Arsenal star in win over Burnley today

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Arsenal legend Paul Merson feels Gunners defender Takehiro Tomiyasu made a mistake for Burnley’s equaliser on Saturday.

The Highbury icon, covering the match on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday, feels the 23-year-old could’ve done better in the build-up.

Luca Koleosho tussled with the Arsenal defender and bundled him to the ground on the byline, going past him and continuing the attack.

The Clarets man then worked the ball towards the centre where, after an effort was charged down, Josh Brownhill scored via a deflection.

Merson said on Sky Sports: “Brownhill scored it but Koleosho has been absolutely brilliant.

“Attacks Tomiyasu – you think Tomiyasu is defending it well. He hasn’t – he sort of slips, and then he pulls it back to Rodriguez.

“Rodriguez has a shot, gets blocked, comes out to Brownhill, he hits it, it’s deflected, keeper goes the wrong way, he scores. It’s 1-1 against the run of play.”

It’s a bit of a controversial one really – you could argue Koleosho could’ve been penalised for a foul on Tomiyasu. Only thing is, both players seemed to be grabbing at each other.

In the end, it didn’t matter, as the Gunners quickly went ahead again and even extended their lead later on.

Tomiyasu had a very solid game overall. He defended well and his solid platform enabled Gabriel Martinelli to cause real havoc down the left.

Routine win for Arsenal against Burnley

Arsenal took the lead in first-half stoppage time through Leandro Trossard, before Brownhill equalised for the visitors in the 54th minute.

Parity lasted just three minutes as the Gunners got their noses in front through William Saliba in the 57th minute.

Then, Oleksandr Zinchenko scored a superb third in the 74th minute to put the Gunners out of reach at the Emirates Stadium.

Even though Arsenal went down to ten men following a red card for Fabio Vieira, Arsenal were able to hold on for all three points.