Ian Wright slams Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta for penalty mistake against Arsenal

Ian Wright has hit out at Cesar Azpilicueta after the defender gave away a cheap penalty in Chelsea’s 4-2 defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday night.

Despite scoring for the Blues in the first-half, Azpilicueta endured a difficult game at Stamford Bridge and was caught on the wrong side of the Gunners’ Bukayo Saka before bringing him down in the box in stoppage time.

The penalty conversion by Saka sealed Arsenal’s victory and means Chelsea have now lost their last three home matches, conceding 11 goals in the process.

Wright, who played for Arsenal for seven years, believes Azpilicueta’s decision-making was poor in conceding the penalty.

He said: ‘Look at Azpilicueta there, experienced player, one player in the box and he’s given away a penalty like that.

‘It deserved to be a penalty. He’s saying he’s holding him but he should be defending that. He should be the defensive side but he’s not even looking at the ball. What does he expect the referee to do?’

In recent games, Azpilicueta has suffered a drop-off in form as he battles Reece James for a regular place in his natural position at right wing-back.

Earlier this month, the 32-year-old was part of a defence which conceded three goals against Real Madrid and four times against Brentford at home.

Having sat on the bench in the Blues’ Champions League exit at the Bernabeu, the Spaniard returned for their victory over Crystal Palace at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-final.

However, against Arsenal he was deemed at fault for not just Saka’s penalty but also the Gunners’ third goal after a misplaced pass led to the counter-attack that Eddie Nketiah scored from.

After the defeat, Azpilicueta was seen remonstrating with a frustrated Chelsea fan and manager Thomas Tuchel revealed he