Ben White names culprit after being rescued by ‘excellent’ star in nightmare Arsenal moment

Arsenal defender Ben White

Arsenal defender Ben White blamed Burnley’s dry pitch for his stray back pass which almost cost the Gunners a penalty at Turf Moor.

Mikel Arteta’s side ground out a tricky 1-0 win over the Clarets on Saturday, their second of the season. Indeed, they have now notched two clean-sheet wins following three successive defeats and nine goals conceded.

Summer signing Martin Odegaard’s free-kick was the difference in the end.

However, two of his fellow new arrivals had roles in a moment to forget for Arsenal. White played a short back pass to Aaron Ramsdale and the goalkeeper had to stretch into a challenge with Matej Vydra.

Referee Anthony Taylor initially gave a penalty, but overturned the decision after a VAR check.

“It was a tough one, my heart skipped a beat for a second,” White told Arsenal’s official website.

“It was really, really dry out there today and my pass back didn’t get there at all. Luckily Aaron came to save me.”

Nevertheless, the win moved Arsenal up to 13th in the Premier League table. What’s more, White saw the value in another clean sheet after last weekend’s win over Norwich.

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“I think clean sheets are really important,” the £50million signing from Brighton said.

“If you get that, you’ve got a good chance of winning. We’ve got the quality up front so if we’re keeping a clean sheet, we’re always going to win a game.”

Speaking after the game, BBC Sport pundit Neil Lennon lauded Ramsdale for his performance.

Ramsdale gets Arenal praise

Aaron Ramsdale, Matej Vydra

The former Celtic boss told Radio 5 Live: “Huge three points for Arsenal.

“Burnley wasted 45 minutes, the second half was more like them. But they’ll have regrets about this game for sure.

“At the time, I didn’t think it was a penalty. I thought Aaron Ramsdale was excellent.

“Clean sheet, another 1-0 win, it is like the Arsenal of old!”

Arsenal return to action on Wednesday when facing AFC Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup, before playing Tottenham in the north London derby.


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