Tyrone Mings was spotted having a joke with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before winning a crucial flick-on in Aston Villa’s winning goal of the game to get a vital win against Arsenal.
Aston Villa came into the game knowing a victory would boost their chances of survival after Watford’s huge 4-0 defeat to Manchester City.
And it took Villa just 27 minutes to score the only goal of the game, much to the thanks of a clever bit of trickery from Tyrone Mings.
Mings was seen sharing a quick laugh with the Arsenal captain, before quickly getting away to get his head on a Hourihane corner, the ball then fell to Trezeguet who smashed in the opener.
Micah Richards – at half-time – said the tactic used is not a usual one attackers might deploy at set-pieces.
“I think they’re playing catch, to be honest,” he said. “They have a little laugh and a joke – then he’s gone. Just drop the shoulder, lovely flick on.”
Aston Villa have now leapfrogged Watford to move out of the relegation ahead of their final game of the campaign against West Ham.
- Lampard speaks out on making more signings amid Havertz rumours
- Guardiola hits out at Arsenal: I have no respect for them off the pitch
Sherwood was unimpressed with Aubameyang’s actions, describing it as a ‘schoolboy’ error.
‘This is typical of Arsenal’s performance. ‘It’s ‘We’ll have a little joke about’ but Mings is more alert, he goes ‘Ta-ta, see you later, I’m going to go near post I’m going to flick this on and you’re going to be 1-0 down,’ Sherwood told Premier League productions.
‘[Aubameyang’s] sleeping. It’s not a game on the park; this is a professional football match where you’ve got a chance to finish in the Europa League spots.
Mings 1⃣-0⃣ Aubameyang ?
The Arsenal skipper was caught laughing as Mings beat him to flick on at the front post before Trezeguet got the opener for Aston Villa
What was he thinking?#ARSAVL #lsu pic.twitter.com/itD7XLEw0f— Livesoccerupdates.com (@Lsoccerupdates) July 21, 2020
‘That’s not good enough. That’s just like a schoolboy having a joke with his friend. Mings knew what he was doing because what he was doing was luring him in and then he was gone’.
Defeat ensured eighth position will be Arsenal’s highest possible finish, with Tottenham finishing above them for the fourth consecutive campaign.
