Arsenals fall guy responds to criticism after Crystal Palace horror show

Arsenal fall guy Nuno Tavares has finally responded to the criticism he has been hit with following his horror show at Crystal Palace.

Tavares started at left-back in place of the injured Kieran Tierney for the trip to Selhurst Park on Monday. But it was a miserable night for the Portuguese defender, who struggled to contain Palace attacker Jordan Ayew.

He was particularly at fault for Palace's second goal, when he stopped running to allow Ayew to capitalise on a mistake from Gabriel and fire past Aaron Ramsdale. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was so unimpressed with Tavares' performance that he hauled the left-back off at half-time.

Granit Xhaka shifted from central midfield to take the position vacated by Tavares. But ultimately the tactic did not work, with Arsenal falling to a disastrous 3-0 defeat at the hands of Patrick Vieira's side.

It is Tavares' second game in succession in which he has been taken off early, having been subbed after only 36 minutes in the FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest. Tavares' form has fallen off since he kept Tierney out of the side for a spell in the Autumn.

And the 22-year-old has now admitted his frustration with how his night at Selhurst Park panned out. But he insisted that he would 'learn' from his mistakes ahead of Saturday's visit of Brighton.

"Monday was an extremely frustrating night for me personally, for the team and the fans. It’s important to pick ourselves up, learn from the mistakes and react positively for Saturday’s game. Still a lot to fight for. COYG," Tavares tweeted alongside a picture of him in action at Palace.

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Tavares' statement follows the mountain of criticism that has been sent in his direction. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was one of those who blasted the Gunners star in the aftermath of their defeat to Vieira's men.

"He is at fault for the second goal, but it is not just this goal, Arsenal have to bring him off and make a change, I will be very surprised if he comes out for the second half. You have to admire the goal from a Crystal Palace point of view," Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday.

"It is something you are taught as a young kid, if you are a defender, you have always got to think that the player next to you is a dummy, and a poor player. Tavares stops, and Ayew keeps running because he thinks Gabriel is going to miss it, Tavares thinks he (Gabriel) is going to cut it out, but he doesn’t."

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