BERND LENO was left red-faced after gifting Rapid Vienna a horrific opener against Arsenal with an unfortunate gaffe.
With the Gunners toiling after a lifeless first half, the German passed straight to the Austrians’ danger man Taxiarchis Fountas.
German Leno endured a horror moment against the AustriansCredit: Reuters
Bernd Leno was under pressure in his own box before he gave the ball awayCredit: BT Sport
Bernd Leno gifts the ball to Rapid Vienna star Taxiarchis FountasCredit: BT Sport
Bernd Leno watches on as Rapid Vienna take the leadCredit: BT Sport
And the striker made no mistake from a tight angle, sending the 3,000 fans in attendance into delirium with the 51st-minute opener.
Leno was then lucky not to concede another from a SECOND howler as he rushed off his line and blasted the ball against David Luiz’s back.
This time the hosts had a shot at an open goal, but couldn’t find the target from a difficult angle.
Leno, 28, has returned as Arteta’s No1 this season, having missed much of last term’s resumption through injury.
Emi Martinez excelled in his place, before being sold to Aston Villa last month.
But following Leno’s mistake, some Gunners fans have been bemoaning the decision to let their popular Argentine go.
One wrote: “Biggest and most underrated mistake of the summer, Leno isn’t a number 1”.
While another said: “Arsenal should have kept Martinez, he’s the better keeper”.
A third scathingly questioned: “Why does everyone associated with football know we sold the wrong keeper apart from the idiots at the club?”
Other supporters online have been critical of their boss’ style of play, with one angry fan questioning: “Who do so many clubs insist on playing out from the back? Although it is wonderful to watch when things like this happen”
One fan joked Leno was wearing ‘clown shoes’ while another claimed he was ‘playing like he has been on a bender’.
Piers Morgan fumed: “LENO… what the **** were you doing?”
But Mesut Ozil, who was offered a role as BT Sport pundit after admitting to watching the game on TV following his axing, tweeted: “Chin up Bro @Bernd_Leno!
“We still have enough time to turn this around guys! Come on Gunners!! #COYG #M1Ö #YaGunnersYa @Arsenal”
Ozil was right as David Luiz and super sub Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both scored to spare Len’s blushed and earn an opening win in this season’s Europa League.
Arteta refused to blame Leno for his gaffe and insisted HE was at fault.
He said: “If anything it’s my fault because I demand to do those things.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult match and we made it a bit harder for ourselves with a few of our decisions and obviously with the goal we conceded.
“But even though we conceded another late chance with a second misunderstanding at the back, I will keep encouraging Bernd to play it out in the right moments.
“It’s part of our game model but we need to understand when we can pass it out and when we should kick the ball into the stand.
“That’s a big part of what we are trying to do but to recognise that from the outside is much easier than to do it from the inside.
“We need a better understanding of where the pressure is coming from because you have a split second to make a decision and to make the right pass when the opponents are waiting for that.
“But Bernd has the courage to do it and we have been very successful doing it with the amount of goals we have scored in important games.
“So we will keep working on that because it’s necessary that the goalkeeper is involved in our build-up to play the way I want.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
