Former Chelsea star hits out at ‘weak’ Man Utd midfielder after Arsenal controversy

Former Premier League star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink described Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen as ‘weak’ after his part in a controversial moment during the first-half of their clash with Arsenal.

The game was goalless when Eriksen seemed to have been robbed of possession by Gunners captain Martin Odegaard in a move that ended with Mikel Arteta’s men looking as if they had taken the lead at Old Trafford.

Bukayo Saka released Gabriel Martinelli in on goal and he made no mistake with a cool finish beyond the advancing David de Gea.

The Gunners celebration were prematurely ended by a VAR review that concluded Odegaard had fouled Eriksen and the goal was disallowed.

The decision left former Chelsea and Leeds United star Hasselbaink far from impressed.

He told Sky Sports: “I think it’s ridiculous that they go back to that.

“I don’t think it’s a foul.  They are saying they have changed, they’re going to be more lenient.

“Yes, there is contact, Eriksen is weak there, weaker than the other player, it’s just a turnover of play and a transition.

“You are allowed contact with players, and he is just being weak, he falls on the floor and he’s being weak.”

Former Arsenal star Paul Merson agreed with that point of view and believes the move that could have put the Gunners ahead of left their hosts ‘petrified’.

He said: “Eriksen’s gone down very weakly.

“You can’t san say it’s a push in the back but he’s gone down.  You might as well go down and fall over because they’re going to go back.

“It’s a great finish, great weight of pass and a great finish.

“When that happened, Man United were on top and it was like a boxer getting hit and going ‘he can punch hard’.

“And Man United were petrified after that for a while and I think they’re very fortunate.”

The Red Devils took a lead into half-time when new signing Antony fired them ahead just under 20 minutes after Martinelli’s effort had been disallowed.