Granit Xhaka’s 7 best moments in an Arsenal shirt

2. First red card

15th October 2016

Most fans wouldn’t look back on a player’s first red card too fondly, but some players are an exception to that rule: Pepe, Sergio Ramos, and Granit Xhaka.

It didn’t take long for Xhaka to receive his first red for Arsenal. The Gunners were 3-1 up against Swansea with an hour on the clock.

Moudou Barrow was in space going down the wing when the Swiss midfielder cynically tripped him. It wasn’t an attempt at the ball but it was a harsh red card and it was the beginning of a difficult relationship with Premier League referees.

Watching that red card now is almost nostalgic knowing that Xhaka is now on his way out.

One of my favourite football facts is that Granit Xhaka never received two yellow cards for Arsenal, he always received a straight red card if he was sent off.

3. Wonder free-kick against Palace

28th October 2018

In this game against Crystal Palace, Arsenal were trailing to a Luka Milivojević penalty. Palace then conceded a free kick just to the right of their penalty area.

Xhaka steps up to take it. Everyone expects him to cross the ball but instead, he whips his foot around it and lasers it towards the far corner. The keeper does manage to get a hand on it, but it’s not enough to keep it out. In fact, he pushes it even more into the corner.

It’s a fantastic strike from Xhaka and the technique is beautiful. There are a lot of things to like about this goal: the shirts, the technique, the slight touch from the goalkeeper, the cannoning off the post, the ripple of the net and the noise from the crowd.

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