Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka produces wild blooper, ricocheting ball off Burnley player and into his own goal

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka produced quite the head-scratching blooper on Saturday at Burnley at the end of the first half. With the Gunners leading 1-0 through a goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Xhaka’s lack of quality on his non-dominant foot provided Burnley striker Chris Wood with the easiest goal of his career. The Swiss midfielder checked to the ball inside the box to help goalkeeper Bernd Leno, and his timing was good as he got space to play the ball wide or try and clear it up the field to avoid the incoming pressure. Xhaka tried to get the ball around Wood, instead hitting him, with the ball going right into the goal. 

Take a look:

Yikes. It’s bad enough when a poor pass results in a good chance, but this surpasses that. It was poor execution with his weaker right foot, and if it was on the opposite side with his left, he would have likely been able to produce the technical quality to loft it over the big striker. Instead, the Gunners go from controlling the game to all things square in the second half.

As for Wood, you know how some announcers say they’ll never score an easier goal after a wide open tap in? Well, this was easier, only needing to position himself and get in the way. Even his post-goal shoulder shrug tells you just how easy it was for him and how disastrous it was from Xhaka.