Bothroyd also reminded Gyokeres that the sprinklers watered the pitch before the game started and at half-time.
By Kehinde Okeowo
British pundit and former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jay Bothroyd has berated Arsenal striker Viktor Gyökeres for suggesting that a “dry pitch” cost them their Premier League match against Bournemouth, calling the excuse “silly”.
The Gunners were defeated 2-1 on Saturday afternoon by visiting Bournemouth in front of their own fans at the Emirates Stadium.
Viktor Gyökeres’ penalty equalised Junior Kroupi’s initial goal, but Alex Scott netted the decisive goal for the visitors in the 74th minute.
This defeat dented Arsenal’s league aspirations and leaves them nine points ahead of their nearest rivals, Manchester City, who have two games in hand and are yet to face Mikel Arteta’s team.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the encounter, Gyökeres admitted: “They’re good on the counter-attack.”
He added: “They have good players and made some good combinations. But we need to do better. We had some chances in the end. The pitch was a bit dry, which didn’t help. I’m very confident. We don’t need to get stuck too much on what happened today. We need to look forward and be positive.”
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Reacting to the comments, Bothroyd disagreed, saying the Swede’s remark was silly and reminding him that both teams played on the same pitch.
“Listen, to me, that’s just silliness,” the former forward said. “I was at the game; I saw the pitch. The pitch looked perfect to me.
“The sprinklers were on before the game. They were on at half-time. Both teams actually play on that same pitch—I don’t know if you know that.
“Both teams play on it, and Bournemouth took the opportunities when they came. I hear what he’s saying when he talks about being positive going forward, because I think in this situation, you kind of have to look at that, but at the same time, you really need to analyse what happened today because it was really poor.
“I think the xG (expected goals) was 0.19 in open play at home. That is just not good enough for a team of the calibre of players that Arsenal have. It’s just way off. It’s just not good enough.
“Too many times they get into a position where they are just knocking the ball around the pitch.
“Raya is literally touching the ball. He has the ball at his feet probably more than any other player on the pitch. And obviously, you’re 80 yards from goal. I don’t get that.”
