Sky pundit says Arsenal didn’t pass the ball to £27m player enough last night

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Pundit Michael Dawson has suggested that Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard wasn’t on the ball enough against RC Lens last night.

Dawson was covering the match for Sky Sports as the Gunners fell to their first defeat of the season.

Mikel Arteta will be bitterly disappointed with how yesterday’s match against Lens played out.

He selected a strong side that included Bukayo Saka on the right wing despite the 22-year-old being an injury doubt.

The England international didn’t even make it to half-time as he once again limped off and there will be concerns over his fitness with a match against Manchester City on the horizon.

Arsenal took the lead through Gabriel Jesus, but two finely taken goals earned Lens a huge European win.

One player who didn’t have the desired impact for Arsenal against Lens was Leandro Trossard.

With Gabriel Martinelli still not fit enough to start, the £27m man was given the nod yesterday.

While he didn’t play badly, he looked isolated on the left wing.

Trossard struggles to make impact for Arsenal vs. Lens

The Belgian international had a good opportunity to score at the beginning of the second half and Dawson said: “Big chance for Trossard and it came from Lens’ downfall.

“He just needed to lift it over Samba and it’s into the net.

“Arsenal need to get Trossard more on the ball – that’s where the space is with him on the left and Fabio Vieira on the right.”

It was good work from Kai Havertz to play the ball through to Trossard as he still searches for his first Arsenal assist.

After losing his marker, Trossard digs out a shot but struck it straight at the Lens goalkeeper.

In the 70 minutes Trossard played, he managed just 32 touches and only completed one of his four attempted dribbles.

Arsenal will be frustrated that the likes of Trossard and Fabio Vieira couldn’t make a bigger impact against Lens.

It puts more pressure on their doubleheader against Sevilla now as they eye progression to the Champions League knockout stages.

He proved his worth with one moment of quality in the first half of the match and has been ‘outstanding’ when called upon this season.

With Martinelli still missing from training this week, the Belgian is likely to get the nod to play on Sunday as well.