Thomas Partey didn’t ‘realise gravity of the situation’ as Arsenal star walked off pitch before Tottenham goal

The £45 midfielder’s promising start in north London has been derailed by injury

Mikel Arteta criticised Thomas Partey (Getty Images)

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has criticised midfielder Thomas Partey for his role in one of Tottenham’s goals at the weekend.

The Gunners were beaten 2-0 by north London rivals Spurs, who went top of the table with that victory - while Arteta’s side are languishing in 15th with just two goals in their last seven league games.

Summer signing Thomas had started the game well, but had to leave the pitch injured just before half-time - and as he attempted to walk off, Spurs countered through the centre of the pitch and went on to score their second goal.

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Arteta pointed the finger at the Ghana international for not realising the importance of the moment and doing whatever was needed to aid his side, while also explaining why he tried to push his injured player back out onto the pitch.

"Thomas is out, he's limping, he's in pain, he has to come off and we lost a man in that crucial transition moment," the Arsenal boss told Sky Sports.

"He has to fall on the floor. I wanted him on the pitch, doing whatever he could for the team in that situation. No one expected him not to be in that position.

"I was trying to push him back on the pitch, I don't think he realised the gravity of the situation when he left his position. That was probably because he was in a lot of pain. There is nothing we can do at the moment to resolve that.

“Suddenly they were coming to us and Thomas is walking to me and I am trying to push him.”

It is not yet known what the extent of Thomas’ injury is, though he had a thigh injury recently and it appears to be a recurrence of the same issue.

"I haven't spoken to him. I don't know exactly how it happened and if he felt something really serious. I will look at it and we will talk about it."