Alan Shearer has slammed Granit Xhaka for his red card against Manchester City, which resulted in Arsenal failing to fight back in their 5-0 loss to the champions.
The Gunners had already been chasing the game and would have wanted a senior player like Xhaka to help them lead the younger players.
Instead, the former Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder lost his head and went in with a two-footed tackle on Joao Cancelo.
He was shown a straight red card and from then on Arsenal had their work cut out for them.
Xhaka was an Arsenal captain before they stripped him of the armband for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
He also has reportedly signed a new Arsenal deal after the Gunners staved off interest from AS Roma in this transfer window.
This was a terrible way to show why he was kept at the club and Shearer slammed him for making mistakes and earning an 11th sending off in his career.
‘That’s 11 red cards in his career, you can’t excuse this,’ the former striker said via Mail Sport.
‘All he’s said to his teammates is “sorry you’re on your own I don’t feel this today”. Who he’s trying to impress? I don’t know.
‘You cannot tackle and go in like that, we all know the rules. He’s putting his opponent in danger.
‘It’s the correct decision and he’s said to his teammates ‘’sorry you’re on your own thanks very much I don’t fancy it today’’.
‘He (Arteta) will be raging at that tackle. You’re up against it anyway, you can’t afford to do that kind of thing.’