Alan Shearer reckons Granit Xhaka may as well have told his Arsenal teammates he wasn't up for the fight against Manchester City as he slammed the midfielder's reckless red card.
Mikel Arteta's men were under immense pressure heading into the clash at the Etihad, knowing that their manager was in the firing line following their defeats to Brentford and Chelsea to start the Premier League campaign.
The Gunners were without several first-team players, including £50million signing Ben White, following a Covid-19 outbreak at London Colney the week before last.
Arsenal needed every player to stand up and be counted to give them a glimmer of hope against City.
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But Xhaka gave them a mountain to climb when he was sent off in the first half for a high lunge on Joao Cancelo.
Gabriel Jesus would score eight minutes later just before halftime to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage and put the game out of sight, as a result.
That's 11 red cards in the Swiss international's career and pundit Shearer did not hold back when assessing his challenge.
The former Newcastle striker reckons he let his teammates and manager down with the reckless decision as he questioned the skipper's commitment given the importance of the match.
“That’s 11 red cards in his career now. You just can’t excuse this. All he’s said to his teammates is ‘sorry lads, I don’t fancy this today’,” Shearer said on BBC Match of the Day.
“Who he’s trying to impress I don’t know. You cannot tackle (like that). We all know the laws, you can’t go in like that. He’s putting his opponent in danger. He’s out of control. It’s the correct decision. It’s a red card."
City would come out the blocks in the second half as Rodri made it 4-0 on the 53rd minute, before Ferran Torres completed his brace with a late strike as they put five past helpless Arsenal, who are now languishing at the bottom of the Premier League without scoring a goal.
