Harry Kane managed to evade former North London rival Granit Xhaka to score for Bayern Munich on Friday, ringing true Ian Wright's brutal criticism of the ex- Arsenal midfielder.
Meeting again in the Bundesliga as Xhaka's new side, Bayer Leverkusen, travelled to Munich, Kane notched his fourth goal in five games since leaving his beloved Tottenham last month by beating his old foe at the back post for a header. Yet the England captain, who scored for his country in midweek, barely had to move once Leroy Sane had floated in his delivery, with 30-year-old Xhaka caught ball watching.
Kane, whose record-breaking transfer was worth in excess of £100million, ended up with an open goal just three yards out, dispatching with ease before Leverkusen staged a dramatic comeback and earned a 2-2 draw. Xhaka won't be too pleased when reflecting on the match, though, as his error was a reminder of criticism which he received from Arsenal legend Wright in 2020.
During a North London Derby clash in the Premier League, which Tottenham comfortably won 2-0 on home soil, it was the Swiss midfielder who could be blamed for Kane's effort. Xhaka was caught too far forward as Spurs won possession in their own penalty area and Serge Aurier played a pass right through where the Switzerland captain should've been positioned and set the hosts away.
Analysing the goal on Match of the Day 2, former Gunners striker Wright was left to bemoan: "I think Xhaka has got to be more aware as the holding midfielder. You've got to six players in front of you, you don't need to be going in there as the holding guy.
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"You should be holding out because Tottenham are counter-attacking, five men against two, and once they're in Arsenal are in all sorts of problems. Nobody shouted to him but I do believe he's experienced enough to know that situation."
Now nearly a full three years on, it appears that Xhaka hasn't learned his lesson and still lacks awareness. Fortunately for Leverkusen, he produced an otherwise tidy performance and helped keep his side going until the 94th minute when midfield partner Exequiel Palacios slotted home an equaliser from the penalty spot.
Granit Xhaka previously made an error leading to a Harry Kane goal in December 2020 (CATHERINE IVILL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)Have your say! Should Arsenal have kept hold of Granit Xhaka? Let us know your verdict in the comments section.
After VAR deemed Alphonso Davies to have tripped Jonas Hofmann in the box and sent referee Daniel Schlager over to the monitor, he pointed to the penalty spot and left Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel fuming. "The referee didn't blow his whistle," Tuchel, who received a yellow card in the aftermath of Leverkusen's first equaliser, told DAZN post-match.
"For me it is not a crystal clear wrong decision where VAR had to intervene. But it doesn't matter what I say now. We had a good first 20 minutes and could have decided the game back then. But then we had 20 bad minutes, completely for no reason.
"Things continued like that in the second half. Sometimes we had control, sometimes no control. In the end it looked like we had the lucky punch with the second goal, but then we got a tricky decision against us."
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