Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has criticised Jordan Ayew for his big miss in Crystal Palace’s 1-1 stalemate against Brighton Monday night.
Crystal Palace would have probably won the Premier League match if their Ghanaian striker had scored in the second half after being presented with a glorious opportunity.
With Palace seemingly cruising to a potential 1-0 win, the forward was presented with a glorious chance to make it 2-0 after being played through on goal with the goalkeeper but his shot went wide.
The miss proved costly as Brighton snatched a point in the dying embers of the M23 derby.
And Henry, a pundit on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, was adamant he should have squared the ball to an unmarked Christian Benteke.
“That’s the better option,” said the former Arsenal and French international. “You score, I come and celebrate with you – we do some somersault or whatever you want, we slide on our knees.
“If you don’t score, I would have killed you. Give me the ball….that is a sure goal.
“In that position, I’m thinking Benteke. This is where, in the Premier League, that’s a 2-0. Yes, he could have scored. But what about this [passing to Benteke], that’s 2-0 and we’re not talking anymore.”
But Henry, a former team-mate of Patrick Vieira for club and country, was impressed with the Eagles.
“I felt sorry for Patrick, I felt sorry for the Palace fans…Conor Gallagher should not be, at the end, on a team that didn’t win the game today. The Palace players should not be not on the winning side at the end.
“I liked Wilfried Zaha off the ball today. But in the Premier League, you make one little mistake and they count and then it is 1-1.”
Ayew’s last goal for Palace came in a 4-1 win over Leeds United last year.