Ian Wright says he feels sorry for Arsenal man after Liverpool draw

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Ian Wright has leapt to the defence of Granit Xhaka after the Arsenal midfielder received criticism following the Gunners’ draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

Wright was speaking on The Kelly & Wrighty Show following the incredible 2-2 draw at Anfield at the weekend which certainly leaves the Premier League title race wide open.

For many, victory on Merseyside would have seen Arsenal put one hand on the trophy. And it seemed that they would coast to the three points with Mikel Arteta’s men taking a 2-0 lead in the first-half.

However, Liverpool were able to fight back and score twice. And one of those goals came shortly after Granit Xhaka was booked for the visitors.

Ian Wright defends Granit Xhaka

Xhaka was involved in a clash with Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Swiss was unhappy after not being awarded a free-kick after being knocked over by Ibrahima Konate. That prompted the Arsenal midfielder to leave something on the Liverpool right-back after the ball had already gone.

Alexander-Arnold responded by shoving Xhaka as he walked away. And both players went head to head before being shown a yellow card each.

The incident led to the Anfield crowd getting fired up. And it really felt like a completely different atmosphere – which was rewarded shortly after with Mo Salah getting one back for Liverpool.

With the Reds coming back to earn a point, some have criticised Xhaka for getting involved in the incident. Jamie Carragher said that Xhaka’s actions were ridiculous.

But Wright has taken a completely different view. He feels that the Anfield crowd was always likely to find its voice at some stage. And thus, Xhaka cannot be held responsible for the fightback.

“For an opposing player to do something like that in that moment, you think to yourself maybe if you look back at that, he wouldn’t probably do that. But we’re talking about Granit Xhaka, who plays like that. That’s how he plays,” he told The Kelly & Wrighty Show.

“And like you say, he’s somebody that he’s very much a leader in that dressing room. He’s got a lot of stuff under control, but that’s what that game can do to you. It got them going. But at the same time, a van Dijk tackle can get them going, anything could get them going.

“I just feel a little bit sorry for Xhaka simply because there’s almost a pile-on from people saying: ‘he’s costing them the title’, it’s not right. It’s not right to do that for Granit Xhaka who’s not done anything we wouldn’t expect him to do the way he plays. I’m with Xhaka on that one.”

Xhaka has been so good throughout the season. He has been the leader Arsenal actually needed when he was wearing the captain’s armband.

And you can definitely understand Wright’s point of view. It may have been somewhat coincidental that Salah’s goal came shortly after the clash.

Both Premier League games on Sunday turned off the back of a goal just before the break. So it was probably much more significant that Salah did halve the deficit just before the half-time whistle.