David Luiz was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons last Saturday evening as Arsenal suffered a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool.
Trailing 1-0 at half-time courtesy of Joel Matip's header, the hosts doubled the lead four minutes after the break as the summer signing tugged Mohamed Salah back in the box and the Egyptian scored the resulting penalty.
Luiz was criticised for conceding the spot kick and it proved crucial as it left the Gunners with an uphill battle in the remaining 40 minutes, before the Liverpool ace then put the result beyond any doubt as he left the defender for dead on his way to finding the bottom corner.
The 32-year-old could have brought his ex-Chelsea teammate down midway inside his own half, yet he opted against it and Unai Emery believed he was "intelligent" as he would have collected a second yellow and been given his marching orders in the process.
"It is not easy for him, the adaption to us has been very quick, but I am very happy with him," said the head coach when asked if the criticism of Luiz was justified.
"His decision is very ambitious to come here and be with us, and he wants to help us.
"We can speak about some fault with one player or another player, but we can also talk about some good decisions and very good actions in each match from one player. And with him it’s the same.
"The penalty last Sunday, we cannot speak a lot about that, the action with Salah we cannot speak a lot about that
"For example, for that penalty he has one yellow card so if he made a foul with Salah it’s the second.
"He was intelligent and we can speak about positive decisions and we can also speak about the goal.
"We are in our way and I like and want his mentality. I want his ambition. I want to transmit the ambition from him and me to other players. After we can be competitive."
