William Saliba has defended Arsenal teammate Jakub Kiwior after the January signing was criticised for his performance in the 2-2 draw against Sporting CP. Kiwior completed a £21million move from Spezia to the Emirates Stadium and made his full Gunners debut against Sporting on Thursday night.
The Polish centre-back has impressed for Arsenal Under-21s despite finding it hard to break into the first team given the strong parternship between Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes. Kiwior was criticised for his role in Sporting's equaliser in the first half after he appeared to duck away from the ball, allowing Goncalo Inacio to head home for the hosts.
When asked about the 23-year-old shying away from challenging for the ball and allowing Inacio to score in his post-match press conference, Arteta responded: "I don’t know what it was. It happened in a split second but for sure in that space somebody cannot have a free header and concede a goal.
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Despite a shaky debut for the Gunners, Kiwior's centre-back partner has now defended him with Saliba admitting he thought the young Polish defender played well. "His first game, he played well and for me I play the first time with him and we did well," said Saliba.
"Unfortunately we conceded two goals, but it’s ok, we played well and that’s good. We trained a lot together, in training we change the pair always, that’s why we played good together and it wasn’t bad to play with him for the first time."
Kiwior has been praised by fans for his passing ability, but his performance against Sporting may suggest he needs to improve upon his decision-making and physicality - something Saliba has done during his loan spells away from the Emirates Stadium and is now reaping the rewards for. Arsenal fans have stuck by Kiwior following the result as the Gunners now focus on the Premier League title race ahead of their second-leg at the Emirates Stadium next Thursday.
One Arsenal fan tweeted: "Away at Sporting Lisbon is not an easy fixture to make your debut. Jakub Kiwior is only going to get better *love heart emoji*."
Another Gunners supporter posted: "Jakub Kiwior had a good game last night, I don't know why you are expecting Gabriel Magahaleas performance from a guy that just made his debut. Apart from that corner, can you show me his misplaced passes and lost duels. Back him or leave him."
@_hillar tweeted: "There's no point of criticizing Jakub Kiwior you can always get better in life."
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