Arsenal fans were quick to point to Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu’s desire to hold onto the ball as a key reason why they left the Emirates Stadium with just a point on Friday evening, but a recent stat has emerged that showed their own no.1 was even worse.
The Saints stopper managed to eat up 13 minutes of time in north London as his side clung on for a 3-3 draw after taking a 2-0 lead, with each of his goalkick restarts taking over 40 seconds, much to the anger of the Arsenal faithful and disbelief that referee Simon Hooper didn’t produce a yellow card.
It, in the eyes of many, cost them a vital three points in the title race, extending their sequence of three consecutive draws and leaving them needing to win at the Etihad against chasers Manchester City to keep their fate in their own hands.
But, unsurprisingly, Southampton are not the only side who have tried to timewaste this season, and it turns out that Arsenal have been even worse than their opponents from last week.
In their 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield, they were under siege for most of the second half, and Ramsdale rightly took plenty of plaudits for his efforts in goal, keeping out two certain goals to salvage a point.
But he was also very savvy with the clock, managing to use up a massive 57 seconds between each of his goal kicks, leaving his total amount of time wasted at nearly 10 minutes, less than Bazunu, but only by virtue of having fewer goal kicks to take.
