Patrice Evra claims Thierry Henry turned off Arsenal game after seeing Granit Xhaka was captain

The Swiss midfielder was sent off in the 1-0 defeat to Burnley on Sunday evening

Karl Matchett
Monday 14 December 2020 13:21 GMT
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Granit xhaka
Granit xhaka (Getty Images)
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Granit Xhaka received plenty of deserved criticism after his red card for Arsenal against Burnley on Sunday night - and Patrice Evra went one further.

The Swiss midfielder was dismissed for grabbing the Clarets’ Ashley Westwood by the throat, moments after a crude foul on Dwight McNeil which would have only seen Xhaka yellow carded.

Arsenal went on to lose the game 1-0, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netting an own goal after Xhaka’s red.

Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, Evra relayed a story about the disgraced Gunners former captain, to elaborate his wider point on why fans have “had enough” of his lack of discipline.

“We're talking about Xhaka, I will tell you a quick story. Thierry Henry one day invited me to his house, he said 'come Patrice, we're going to watch the Arsenal game’,” Evra explained.

"He turned on the TV. The first image we saw on the screen it was Xhaka leading Arsenal, being the captain - Thierry Henry turned off the TV.

"I said 'What's happened?'. He said 'I can't watch my team and Xhaka being the captain of my team’, and we didn't watch the game.

“We started talking about many things and he turned off the screen. It tells you everything of what the legends of this club think about him. He again let down his team.”

Xhaka made headlines for a confrontation with supporters last year and looked to be on the verge of an Arsenal exit, before regaining his place under Mikel Arteta.

But Arteta has himself been under pressure after a dismal run of results which leave the Gunners 15th in the table.

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