Roy Keane has commended Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo for backing up his team-mate during their stunning win over Arsenal.
Goals from Julio Enciso and Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan earned Roberto de Zerbi’s side a 3-0 victory at the Emirates, which all but ends the hosts’ hopes of a first title in 20 years. And in doing so, Brighton boosted their own European aspirations, moving up in to sixth with games in hand on the teams around them.
Caicedo, who was close to joining the Gunners in January, was in the thick of the action from the off - playing as an auxiliary full-back due to injuries. He was up against Gabriel Martinelli, but their battle was short lived after the Brazilian was injured by Caicedo.
The incident came just minutes after Martinelli himself was lucky to escape further punishment for clashing into Kaoru Mitoma. The Arsenal star attempted to go up for a header, but instead just charged into Mitoma, leaving him stricken on the floor.
Sky Sports commentator had called for referee Andy Madley to show the forward a red card, only for the forward to not receive a card of any colour. And just moments later, Caicedo appeared to get his retribution, taking Martinelli out, forcing him to hobble off the pitch.
Madley again opted to keep his cards in his pocket, and speaking at half time Keane suggested Caicedo had done right by Mitoma in exacting a little slice of revenge. “Tough, he was lucky. Maybe he got the benefit of the doubt because of his personality and the positioning of the player,” the ex-Manchester United skipper said of Martinelli’s initial challenge.
“But what a good teammate does is get retaliation back. It’s not a good tackle, certainly looks a sore one and obviously he had to go off. Hopefully that’s not the end of his season because he’s been outstanding.”
He added: “Sometimes that’s the game. We played, you have to even things up, unfortunately for him.”
Caicedo was outstanding for Brighton on a day where Mikel Arteta must have been ruing their inability to sign him earlier this year. The Gunners spent the majority of the January window trying to land the combative midfielder, only to see their attempts resoundingly rebuffed.
Their interest is likely to be reignited at the end of this season and Keane was full of praise for the 21-year-old. “You can see why they were interested, he’s a strong footballer, he’s a good age at 21 and obviously adapted to the Premier League pretty well.
“It’s well and good Arsenal having all these attacking midfield players - particularly players like Odegaard - but you need somebody who can do a sitting job and be defensive-minded. There’s no surprises they were interested.”
Keane continued: “There was obviously talk they were trying to get him in January, signed a new deal, but I’m sure he’s got plenty of clauses.
Obviously if Arsenal were keen on him they’d have to pay big money for him, but he’s certainly a good, strong, powerful boy, and in an ideal world at the age he is, he’s a good investment for Arsenal.”
