Troy Deeney convinced Mikel Arteta is outright lying to fans about one Arsenal signing

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Troy Deeney has berated Mikel Arteta for defending one of his Arsenal players’ performances in the 1-1 draw against Manchester City.

Gianluigi Donnarumma made a costly mistake as the Man City defence withstood the barrage of attacks, with Pep Guardiola enforcing several defensive changes to hold onto the one-goal advantage.

The Gunners were saved by a 93rd-minute equaliser courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli after Erling Haaland gave the visitors the lead inside the opening ten minutes at the Emirates.

Now, Arteta is in the firing line as his side have now faced both their main title rivals in Liverpool and Man City and walked away with one point.

But the Arsenal boss is now drawing more intense criticism with Deeney accusing the Spaniard of outright lying to the supporters following the result.

Viktor Gyokeres had another poor showing for Arsenal

When discussing the clash on talkSPORT, the former Premier League forward believes Viktor Gyokeres’ struggles against the top sides are proving to be a cause for concern, and was in shock that Arteta defended the Swede.

“I understand the manager has to give the striker confidence, but he just described Gyokeres as having a ‘strong performance’ today. You know, when Ten Hag was at Man United, he used to just lie to us about a ‘good performance’ – but we watched the game, and we saw it for ourselves.

“As an ex-striker, I’m always going to focus on what the strikers actually do. How can you say he had a strong performance?

“I think he will score goals. I’ve never said he won’t. My concern is in these big games—the ones where you bought him to make the difference, to get that goal. We’ve seen it with Haaland as well. People often say he’s terrible because he only has 10–12 touches in a game, but he scores in the big moments. I can put my house on it. When he went through today – and I’m sure you watched it – we all thought, ‘goal.’

“I just don’t get that feeling with Gyokeres. I do see it against teams like Leeds, Wolves, West Ham—you know, against those sides, no problem. But in the big moments, I just don’t feel it. That’s why I got a little annoyed with Arteta. What is the consideration for a ‘strong performance’? Would you have called his performance today strong?”

Arteta blamed Gyokeres’ teammates for his lack of clear-cut chances at the Emirates as the 27-year-old failed to register a single shot against Donnarumma.

While the forward has scored three goals in five outings in the league, his lack of presence in the big occasions has not gone unnoticed, as Gyokeres also underwhelmed against Liverpool and once again failed to take a shot on goal.

The Gunners have already lost ground at the top of the Premier League in the early stages of the season, as the draw against Man City leaves them five points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

Gyokeres’ displays thus far have led to suggestions that Kai Havertz will reclaim his starting berth at the Emirates once he returns from injury, but until then, Arteta may have a serious problem on his hands, which must be addressed before another tough clash away at Newcastle United up next.

Viktor Gyokeres will lose his place at Arsenal to Kai Havertz

Indeed, Arsenal’s £64 million man has proven that he can deliver the goals against lower-level opposition, but his struggles against the ‘big six’ could be the difference between finishing runners-up for a fourth consecutive season and winning the title.

While Havertz will likely be eased back into the first team fold once he returns from the knee injury sustained in the Premier League opener, he has a serious case to start the big matches over Gyokeres.

Since arriving in English football with Chelsea, the German international has notched seven goals and seven assists when facing the ‘big six’ sides, and surprisingly, he failed to register a single goal contribution against Arsenal.

Havertz is not expected to recover from his injury until late November, but his return will coincide with a pivotal week for the Gunners, who will face Tottenham, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea in the space of seven days – leaving Gyokeres with ten games to prove he can be the leading man for Arteta.