Sokratis Papastathopoulos has admitted his responsibility for Arsenal’s draw against Watford on Sunday, posting an apology on Twitter.
Arsenal were 2-0 up against Watford at half-time on Sunday, after a fairly balanced first-half where Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had been the difference-maker.
All they had to do was finish the game off against the league’s bottom club with a 2-0 lead, yet the Gunners were completely dominated for the entire second half. Watford had 24 shots to Arsenal’s four after the break, and it’s no surprise their lead evaporated.
Despite the hosts’ dominance, it’s still fair to say the actual result hinged on two moments of stupidity from Arsenal’s centre-backs. Sokratis passed the ball straight to Tom Cleverley after a goal kick for the first, whilst David Luiz gave away a penalty for the second.
Sokratis accepted he was partly to blame for turning the match against Arsenal with a post on Twitter.
Today’s result is not good for us. I feel responsible for this result, so I would like to apologise to all of you. I don’t like to hide, and I will keep working hard in order to achieve our goals. pic.twitter.com/to7IOViTcS
— Sokratis Papastathopoulos (@SokratisPapa5) September 15, 2019
It’s good of the defender to admit fault, even though it would be harsh to say he was completely responsible. One mistake shouldn’t be enough to throw away a 2-0 lead against Watford.
The fact that Arsenal went into the final 10 minutes still winning, 27 minutes after Watford’s first goal, shows that the team had plenty of time and chances to steady the ship and push forward. They just couldn’t, and that’s not on Sokratis.