Report: £35m Arsenal player said sorry to all his teammates in dressing room during NLD on Saturday

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Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka apologised to his teammates at half-time of the north London derby on Saturday.

According to The Daily Mail, Xhaka took the blame for Tottenham’s penalty that was dispatched by Harry Kane.

It was Gabriel Magalhaes’ tackle on Richarlison that resulted in the spot kick.

However, Xhaka’s poor clearance put Arsenal in danger, and Gabriel dived in to prevent Spurs taking advantage.

The match was in the balance at half-time, but Arsenal came out of the traps much faster than their north London rivals.

Gabriel Jesus punished Spurs when Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero failed to clear a Bukayo Saka shot.

Granit Xhaka then made amends for his earlier error, putting Arsenal 3-1 up with powerful effort inside the box.

Xhaka apologised to teammates at half-time

It says a lot about Xhaka’s character that he took responsibility for Tottenham’s goal on Saturday.

The £35m Swiss international has had plenty of highs and lows during his time at The Emirates.

Xhaka was stripped of the captaincy back in 2019, and has admitted he’s been close to leaving Arsenal before.

However, his turnaround under Mikel Arteta has been exceptional.

This season, Arteta’s decision to move him into a more advanced role has taken Xhaka’s performances to another level.

Danny Murphy admits he now thinks Xhaka’s finally playing in his best position and it’s hard to disagree.

He wouldn’t have made the darting run forward to finish off the move for Arsenal’s third goal in his previous defensive midfield role.

Arsenal fans will be buzzing they’re top of the league even at this early stage.

However, the character shown by Xhaka to take responsibility and apologise to his teammates at half-time, will be another positive they can take from this season.