Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has insisted he was wrong to be sent off in the recent mauling by Manchester City.
Xhaka saw red in the eventual 5-0 defeat last weekend for a high lunging tackle on defender Joao Cancelo.
His side were 2-0 down at the time and soon found themselves 3-0 down eight minutes afterwards when Gabriel Jesus took advantage of the Switzerland star’s early exit.
The red card was the 11th of his career so far, a stat that saw the criticism piled on the Arsenal man by fans and pundits alike after the game.
He saw the incident differently, though, and insists he doesn’t think he did anything wrong in tackling how he did.
“After such a false start, you get criticised. That’s normal and part of it. Every player has to accept that,” he told Keystone – SDA, relayed by Bluewin.
“About the red card: brutally surprising! In connection with the Premier League, people often talk about English toughness.
“I hit the ball 100 per cent and got a red. The pictures were not checked by the VAR. I’ve seen tougher tackles that weren’t even assessed as a foul.
“Am I prejudiced against? I don’t know – I don’t want to judge. I’m not going to let it drive me crazy. I can’t undo anything anyway. All I can do is look ahead.”
The fact Xhaka is even an Arsenal player at this point is something most are still getting their heads around after a summer of speculation.
His time at the club has hardly been a happy one, and it appeared this summer would be his chance to leave, with Roma pushing hard to take him to Serie A.
At one point, it appeared the move was done and dusted only for the two clubs to fail to find an agreement and leave Xhaka in London.
He’s since signed a new deal at the Emirates, and he says it is something which has given him extra motivation to do well.
“I returned to the club from my holidays in excellent shape,” he added.
“The extension of the contract gave me another push. I consider myself lucky with it – besides, I’m healthy, which is the most important thing in the end.”
