Several French media outlets have ripped into Arsenal defender William Saliba after his mistake led to a goal for Belgium in their Nations League clash.
In a rare disappointing evening for the centre-back, Saliba conceded a penalty and then allowed Lois Openda to get in behind him to score Belgium’s only goal of the match.
He did end up celebrating after two Randal Kolo Muani goals sealed a 2-1 victory for Didier Deschamps’ side, but Saliba has not escaped criticism from the French press.
So Foot gave Saliba a 2/10 rating, the worst of any player on the pitch, and wrote: “Penalty, (yellow) card, loss of ball… Fortunately, Openda ended up not taking advantage of his elastic marking before half-time because he would have felt obliged to score this goal himself.”
He received the same rating from Didocu Sport who said: “There is a lot to say about his match and not much good. He undoubtedly had his worst match in Blue.
“He concedes the penalty for a foul on Lois Openda and receives a yellow card where he clearly does well (23rd). He leaves behind the same Lois Openda on the Belgian equalizer. And where is he when Aurelien Tchouameni has to sacrifice himself and take a red card… in the position of the last defender?!”
He was handed a slightly improved score from Eurosport at 3/10, but similar complaints were made of the 23-year-old: “What a painful evening for the Arsenal defender… Saliba caused big problems for his defence with faulty alignment on too many Belgian transitions. On the action of the penalty, he not only mows down Openda, he also covers him.
“It is he, too, who loses the ball on the Belgian equalizer before forgetting the Leipzig striker behind his back. He still covers Tielemans (55th) on a dubious alignment. A loss of the ball which he could have done without (29th) and, overall, a very steep addition even if he cuts off a hot cross at the last minute (90th+5).”
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