Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino defended Juan Foyth after his mistake led to the game-changing goal during the 4-2 north London derby defeat to Arsenal.
The 20-year-old gave away two penalties on his Premier League debut at Wolves last month before bouncing back with a match winning goal at Crystal Palace a week later.
Pochettino handed Foyth his first derby appearance ahead of Toby Alderweireld in the Spurs backline, with the Belgian rested after taxing games against Chelsea and Inter Milan.
He was largely faultless until - on halfway - his botched touch from a seemingly innocuous throw-in saw Aaron Ramsey knick the ball away before laying on Alexandre Lacazette, who regained the lead and knocked the stuffing out of a mentally strained Tottenham side.
Pochettino, though, was keen to absolve his compatriot of any blame and hailed the young defender as one of the best players on the pitch at the Emirates.
“How many players on halfway line miss the pass? A lot,” he said.
“And then it is 50 metres to arrive to the goal. Because he is young it is easy to blame him, it is easy.
“But for me, Juan was one of the best players on the pitch. If we put this pass that wasn’t good in that action out of the 90 minutes, by far was the best. By far.”
Pochettino will have to call on Foyth once more when Southampton visit Wembley on Wednesday with Jan Vertonghen now suspended after being dismissed following two yellow cards against the Gunners.
