Gary Neville blasts ‘madness’ defending from Djibril Sidibe vs Arsenal

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second goal against Everton on Sunday may have made Arsenal fans happy.

But Gary Neville was left perplexed by the striker's header, and more specifically Djibril Sidibe's defending as it went in.

Everton fought hard in the first-half, scoring an early goal through Dominic Calvert-Lewin and then equalising on the stroke of half-time after conceding two before the break.

However, just seconds after the interval, Arsenal were back in front through Aubameyang.

Nicolas Pepe's floated ball found the Gabonese forward, who had acres of space as Sidibe could only watch him power a header into the net.

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Neville, who was on Sky Sports commentary duty during the clash, couldn't believe what he was saying.

“Sidibe’s three, four, five yards off him – you cannot allow that space in between, there’s no real reason for Sidibe not to just go and stand right next to Aubameyang.

"Hold him, make sure he doesn’t get a free header, make sure he doesn’t get a run at it.

“Once it lands on Aubameyang’s head, he’s a brilliant finisher, and the right back is just too late.

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“You’ve got to have a level of alertness when you’re playing essentially a centre forward, Aubameyang isn’t a left-sided winger like you would normally play against as a right back, you’ve got to think as a centre back would.

"You can’t give him a yard – to give him three or four is just madness."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta praised Aubameyang at full-time, before admitting he was desperate to keep the player in north London.

"They are completely right to want him because he is a superb player," said the Spaniard.

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"It's right that big teams like him. Hopefully we can convince him this is right place to be.

"I think it's been tough for him because he has big expectations.

"He wants to play in the biggest competitions and with the best players. We have to help him do that. He needs to feel fulfilled.

"He is our most important player, no doubt the impact he has in this team. We will have to convince him to stay with us."

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