Midfielder Declan Rice of Arsenal was blamed by Manchester United veteran Wayne Rooney for a defensive blunder just before Ousmane Dembélé gave Paris Saint-Germain the lead at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night.
Only a goal from Dembélé in the fourth minute separated the Gunners and PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, which was a fierce contest, reports London World.
Mikel Merino gave Arsenal the goal just after halftime, but a protracted VAR review resulted in the goal being called off for offside.
Next week, the Gunners will go to the French capital in an attempt to overcome the one-goal deficit.
Rooney’s fellow pundits, however, disagreed with his assessment. Daniel Sturridge, a former Chelsea and Liverpool player, was the first to speak up.
The thirty-five-year-old was more intent on blaming Merino than Rice.
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He said: “I don’t look at that goal and say it’s Declan Rice’s fault.
On the other side, Merino makes a defensive run back and by the same token, ran into a position and not toward the ball.
Merino goes to press and is out of position, he makes the run back, tracking back to the penalty spot and not towards the ball to affect what is going to happen.”
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