Jamie Carragher has criticised Aaron Ramsdale for his role in Manchester City’s opening goal against Arsenal in Wednesday’s Premier League title clash.
Man City took a huge step towards defending their title with a 4-1 victory over the Gunners at the Etihad with Kevin de Bruyne scoring twice and Haaland and John Stones also on the score sheet for the hosts.
The win reduces the Gunners’ lead at the top to just two points with Man City having two matches in hand in the season run-in.
City wasted little time putting Arsenal to the sword, with Haaland freeing de Bruyne who fired home from the edge of the box.
The Belgian star drove at the Arsenal backline, cutting out onto his left foot and while it was a good finish, former Liverpool defender Carragher described the Ramsdale’s efforts ‘very poor’.
Long balls from City troubled Arsenal throughout the game, winning every second ball with Haaland dropping deeper to allow de Bruyne to torment the North London side.
Haaland took his tally for the campaign to 49 goals after getting on the score sheet late and while it wasn’t his most clinical night in front of goal, Carragher says it was one of the striker’s best performances in a City shirt.
‘Pep talking after the game about using Haaland with more direct passes, he was unplayable tonight when getting the ball early,’ Carragher added.
‘The CBs for Arsenal were not great, but very few defenders can cope with him physically. I think that was one of Haaland’s best game for Man City.’
‘I think it’s a big game. It’s always important to win this game,’ De Bruyne told BBC Sport post-match.
‘A lot of people will say about the title but in our mind we had to perform well and we did. We still have seven games to play so there’s a lot going on.
‘We are in the end part of the season so we know every game is must win. If we lost today it would be very hard. We played really well.’
