Manchester United’s Superstar Admits 'Stupid Mistake' In 1-0 Loss To Arsenal At Old Trafford

Paul Pogba admitted that he made a "stupid mistake" that led to Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal at home in the Premier League Sunday. It was a great outing for Arsenal as it was their first league win in an away game against The Red Devils at Old Trafford.

In the second half, Pogba clipped the Gunners’ defender Hector Bellerin in the box, resulting in a penalty for the visitors. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had not scored in five straight Premier League games, converted the spot-kick to seal the victory for his side and handed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side their third loss of the 2020-21 Premier League season. By doing so, Aubameyang also became the first-ever Arsenal player to score a penalty at Old Trafford in the Premier League.

In a post-match interview with BBC Sport, Pogba admitted that he gave away the penalty because he was " out of breath," while he also pointed out that his side was not at their best against Arsenal Sunday.

"We know it's a poor performance. Myself, I cannot give a foul away like this. I thought I would touch the ball but I didn't. I cost us the goal today with the penalty. Like I say, details. We have to do better, the team, myself, it starts with me. I felt like I touched him a bit, I knew I was in the box, I shouldn't have given a penalty away like that. Maybe I was a bit out of breath, it made me do this stupid mistake," Pogab told BBC Sport.

The 27-year-old Frenchman has now conceded three penalties in the Premier League under the reign of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while no other Manchester United player has conceded more than one.

"I will learn from that, I'm not the best defensively in the box, I can work on that. We also need to do more with the ball creating chances. We didn't expect to be a man for man, but after this, we can adapt, we have to find a solution but we didn't. That's why we weren't dangerous with the ball. But like I say, the team performance needs to be a lot better," added Pogba, who has scored just once in as many as nine matches in the ongoing campaign.

Man Utd’s upcoming fixture is an away one against Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League Wednesday (Nov. 4) before taking on Everton four days later in the league at Goodison Park. Arsenal’s upcoming two fixtures are home games against Molde in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League.