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‘Naive’… Martin Keown not impressed by 22-year-old Arsenal player’s defending against Nottingham Forest
Arsenal legend Martin Keown described William Saliba as “a little bit naive” following the Gunners’ win over Nottingham Forest.
The Highbury icon commented on the Arsenal defender after Reds forward Taiwo Awoniyi got the better of him for the hosts’ late goal.
Arsenal outplayed Forest at the City Ground and were 2-0 up by the midway point of the second half, seemingly cruising towards victory.
However, the Gunners endured a nervy finish as Awoniyi barged Saliba in the box and pounced on a loose ball to fire past David Raya in the 89th minute.

Keown, speaking on at full-time, praised the Forest man for his play and noted how he “can’t stop scoring against Arsenal”.
Then, the Gunners icon spoke about Saliba, saying he was “naive” in the build-up and said he’s still “learning his trade” in the Premier League.
“What was interesting was the way he used his body,” Keown said of Awoniyi. “Saliba just gets bumped off the ball. It’s good play. He just hits him.
“He can’t stop scoring against Arsenal. It’s good news for Forest that he’s back in contention and able to play.
“Saliba is just a little bit naive but he’s learning his trade and that’s the nature of the Premier League.”
Arsenal patient in win over Nottingham Forest
Arsenal needed some time to break Forest’s resistance, eventually doing so in the 65th minute thanks in part to an error from former Gunners goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Oleksandr Zinchenko weighed in with a quick throw-in, which Gabriel Jesus took in his stride past two opposition defenders.
From an outrageously tight angle, the 26-year-old poked the ball through the legs of Turner at the near post.
Then, in the 72nd minute, Arsenal went on to add a second as Bukayo Saka finished off a great counter-attack with help from Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
Slight error from William Saliba but Arsenal star will learn – TBR View
The Premier League is an unforgiving environment at times and it’s not even a case of flat-out errors and mistakes being pounced upon. Sometimes it’s just a case of any slight weakness being pounced upon.
This was the case with the powerful Awoniyi getting the better of Saliba en route to goal. It was a personal miscalculation from the Arsenal man, which luckily is a rarity.
Luckily it didn’t impact on the result, and the 22-year-old will learn from it.