Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has blamed Chelsea’s summer signing Emiliano Martinez for Arsenal’s first goal in the Gunners’ 2-1 win over Xabi Alonso’s side in the Premier League on Sunday.
Chelsea visited the Emirates Stadium on Sunday with the intention of maintaining their perfect start to the new season and sending a title-challenge message to the reigning champions.
Morgan Rogers provided Chelsea with an ideal start, scoring with a volley from the edge of the box within the first two minutes.
However, Kai Havertz equalised against his former team midway through the first half with a shot that Martinez was unable to save at his near post.
Arsenal displayed a slight superiority throughout the match, and Martin Odegaard’s goal shortly after half-time proved decisive.
Carragher opined that while signing Martinez for merely £7.5 million was a ‘fantastic deal’, the former Aston Villa goalkeeper has shown that he is no longer at his peak.
Analysing Havertz’s equaliser for Arsenal on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “I think the goalkeeper saves that two or three years ago.
“You go and get someone who has been a great goalkeeper and who in the eyes is still one. But they’re not bringing in the goalkeeper who won the World Cup.
“It isn’t a mistake, it was a great deal for £7.5m and he’s still a really good goalkeeper and he’s better than Sanchez. It will make everyone feel a bit more confident as well.
“The first Arsenal goal isn’t a mistake, it’s just a goalkeeper who isn’t quite as sharp or quick as he once was to get down. There’s a difference between that and a keeper dropping a cross, it’s just a goalkeeper not reacting quick enough.
“Martinez has been a brilliant goalkeeper and he’s still a very good goalkeeper but he’s not the goalkeeper who won the World Cup, he’s not, and that was a little insight into that.”