‘Inexplicable’: Sky pundit rips into Chelsea player during 4-2 defeat vs Arsenal

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Alan Smith ripped into Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta for the penalty he conceded in tonight’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal.

The Blues lost yet again at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening in a Premier League match against their London rivals.

Blues defender Azpilicueta conceded a penalty in the closing stages for a foul on Bukayo Saka, with the Arsenal man converting the resulting spot-kick to complete a 4-2 scoreline.

Sky Sports pundit Smith was left unimpressed by the Chelsea defender’s actions.

“It looked a curious one. He only had eyes for Saka. He had two hands all over Saka. For such an experienced, top defender, that’s inexplicable,” Smith told Sky Sports (9:34pm, 20 April).

In fairness, the game was in its closing stages when Arsenal added a fourth from the spot.

It was a pretty ugly second half from the hosts.

Tale of the game

Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah scored the first of his two goals tonight by putting the visitors 1-0 ahead in the 13th minute. He capitalised on a defensive error from Andreas Christensen to break the deadlock early on.

Chelsea responded quickly with an equaliser just four minutes later, as Timo Werner’s deflected strike went in and continued his strong recent form.

The Gunners hit the front again just short of the half hour mark when Emile Smith Rowe netted.

Thomas Tuchel’s side did deliver an almost immediate response when Cesar Azpilicueta got on the end of Mason Mount’s cross, though.

However, a poor second-half display is where the game went away from Chelsea.

Nketiah added his second in the 57th minute goal before Saka’s converted penalty in stoppage time.

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