talkSPORT pundit: ‘Massive, massive’ Idrissa Gana Gueye error not acceptable at this level as Everton lose at Arsenal
Dean Ashton could not believe the “really poor, slow” mistake that saw Idrissa Gana Gueye gift a second goal to Arsenal against Everton on Wednesday night.
With the Toffees still reeling from having conceded the opener to Bukayo Saka despite arguably being on top for 40 minutes at the Emirates, the veteran Senegal international was caught dawdling on the ball near his own area by the England youngster, allowing Gabriel Martinelli to secure the points in first-half stoppage time.
The mistake ended the game as a contest, with the final scoreline 4-0 after Sean Dyche took the 33-year-old off at half-time, and talkSPORT pundit Ashton was shocked that such a bad error had been made in the Premier League.
Speaking live on the talkSPORT match commentary for the game (1 March, 8.32pm) Ashton said: “That was just really poor, slow play from Idrissa Gana Gueye. Saka was onto him.
As the goal was awarded by VAR commentator Jim Proudfoot said: “Idrissa Gana Gueye has got his heart in his mouth. Yes, it’s going to count, it’s 2-0… Gueye does not know where to look. For a player of his experience that is a 24-carat error.”
Ashton added: “I’m sorry, you can get beat by a side with some wonderful football, pretty much like the first goal, but that’s not acceptable at this level of football. You cannot switch off the way Idrissa Gana Gueye has done there.
“It is a massive, massive error. When you’re down there fighting for your lives you cannot give Arsenal a goal such as that.”
Gut punch
Everton away from home at the league-leaders doesn’t sound like a recipe for success but what makes the heavy defeat so disappointing is how well the Toffees had played for almost a half.
They had frustrated the Gunners attacks and left Jordan Pickford virtually redundant while springing away on breaks multiple times.
If the midfield was more creative and the attack more decisive there was every chance they would have been approaching half time with the lead.
But instead, as usual, the chances went begging, and it only took Michael Keane and Vitalii Mykolenko to allow Saka to drift into space between them once and he punished them.
There would have been the chance at fighting back in the second half if Everton had made it to the break without further damage, but bafflingly Gueye switched off entirely when facing his own goal and gave the game away at a crucial time.
He had only just won the ball back off Martin Odegaard but was completely oblivious to the fact that Saka and Martinelli were closing in on him, with one stealing it off him and the other putting it in the back of the net after a VAR review showed the original flag was incorrect.
Dyche must have been furious to immediately replace him with Mason Holgate, as one of the most experienced players in the side had made one of the most amateur errors, in a game where everyone had to maintain full concentration for 90 minutes.