'Push him!' - Micah Richards floored by what happened in Tottenham vs Arsenal North London Derby
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards has slammed Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario for how he dealt with Arsenal's first and third goal in the North London Derby.
Spurs were torn apart in the first 45 minutes of the Premier League clash and conceded the opener when a corner from Bukayo Saka was turned into his own net by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Saka doubled the advantage on the counter-attack on 27 minutes before the third arrived from another corner.
Kai Havertz powered in Declan Rice's delivery this time as Tottenham crumbled from set pieces. Spurs bounced back in the second half as goals from Cristian Romero and Son Heung-min ensured a tense finale but the Gunners managed to hold on. Reflecting on the result, Richards was taken aback by Vicario's first-half performance.
He told The Rest is Football podcast: «It is ridiculous. It doesn’t help as well the situation, and we have done it on Match of the Day plenty of times, with the goalkeeper.
»Vicario, who has been outstanding and we have given his plaudits this season, but he needs to be aggressive. If someone is standing in front of you, push him out of the way!
«I don’t understand why he is so nice. The old-school goalkeepers back in the day like Peter Schmeichel, even David James with his frame and his size… if someone is in your space, move them out of the way. If you can’t see the ball, you can’t get it away, it is ridiculous.»
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While Vicario has proven his worth with his shot-stopping this season, he has been questioned several times for failing to take control of his area from corners and crosses. Arsenal were arguably the worst opponent the Italian could have faced
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