Arsenal news: Martin Keown slams star for being a passenger against Red Star Belgrade

22:26, Thu, Nov 2, 2017 | UPDATED: 22:26, Thu, Nov 2, 2017

BT SPORT

Arsenal news: Martin Keown hit out at Mohamed Elneny's performance vs Red Star

Arsenal knew that a win would be enough for them to qualify out of Group H and reach the last-32 stage.

Boss Arsene Wenger rotated his side yet again, making 11 changes from the 2-1 Premier League win over Swansea on Saturday.

Red Star had the majority of the chances in the opening 45 minutes, with Richmond Boakye wasting the best of them.

The striker was through on goal but blazed his shot high and wide of Matt Macey’s goal.

Elneny’s just watching, almost a passenger
Martin Keown on Arsenal star Mohamed Elneny

Keown was not impressed with the role Mohamed Elneny, who was playing in an unfamiliar centre-back position, played in the chance.

“There’s very young players in this Arsenal team and you don’t want to be too critical,” he said on BT Sport.

“But at times they were leaving big spaces for them to run into.

“This is where you have to drop off. The blueprint of defending is to drop off when you’re in that situation.

“There’s no real pressure on the ball, Elneny’s just watching, almost a passenger.

“It’s really very fortunate that the player is not quite good enough there to put that into the back of the net.

“They should have been punished there.

"The manager can’t believe it.”

The game ended 0-0 but Arsenal still qualified thanks to Cologne beating Bate Borisov 5-2 in Germany.