Peter Crouch branded Arsenal “embarrassing” after they fell to their second defeat of the week to all-but end their Champions League hopes.
The Gunners suffered a 2-1 defeat at Brighton, with Neal Maupay’s late winner condemning Mikel Arteta’s men to their eighth loss of the season after the visitors had taken the lead through Nicolas Pepe.
Having held hopes of challenging Chelsea for a place in the top four ahead of the Premier League’s return this week, Arsenal suffered a big setback when they were beaten 3-0 by Manchester City in their first game back on Wednesday.
And their second defeat in four days leaves their European ambitions in tatters, with Crouch pulling no punches as he summed up the Gunners’ performance at Brighton for BT Sport.
“I wanted to sit here and say they were slightly better than midweek, but to lose again, it’s embarrassing,” Crouch said.
“You’ve got to remember, this is Arsenal, and they’re losing to a team like Brighton, who are fighting against relegation.
“There’s a lot of questions to be asked, there, I think.”
Crouch though did praise Gunners boss Arteta for his response to his side’s latest defeat.
Following Arsenal’s latest setback, the former midfielder described the manner in which his side capitulated at the AMEX Stadium as “unacceptable”.
“I thought that was a fantastic interview (from Arteta),” Crouch added.
“We’ve seen managers previously make excuses for their teams and perhaps do it behind closed doors but he’s come out and spoken honestly, saying they’re not competing, which is the truth.
“I mentioned the short corner, you learn that in the youth team. He’s got a lot of things he needs to address."
