Darren Bent claims Arsenal star looked ‘desperate’ against Bayer Leverkusen | Football

Darren Bent lamented Bukayo Saka’s performance against Bayer Leverkusen, suggesting the Arsenal winger looked ‘greedy’ and a ‘bit desperate’.

Mikel Arteta’s side punched their ticket to the Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday as goals from Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice helped them secure a 3-1 aggregate victory.

The Gunners now face Sporting Lisbon for a place in the semi-finals as they bid to acheive a famous quadruple.

But while it was a positive night on many fronts, former Premier League striker Bent was left scratching his head at the performance of Saka.

Arsenal’s right winger has 16 goal involvements in all competitions, but has not been at his blistering best when compared to seasons gone by.

And Bent believes that Saka’s display against Leverkusen on Wednesday proved that the 24-year-old might just be a tad overeager at the minute when he gets into goalscoring positions.

‘It’s not so much poor, but it’s just a little bit greedy and he’s bordering on a little bit desperate in terms of some of the shots he shoots when he shouldn’t,’ Bent told talkSPORT when asked about Saka’s display.

‘He should pass it a couple of times. But listen, last night was a little bit difficult for him because they were doubling up on him defensively.’

Bent, though, was blown away by the performance of Eze, who repaid Arteta’s recent faith in him with a thunderous strike to break the deadlock.

‘Eze, this is one of those examples where I’ve said to you before on a number of occasions, footballers need rhythm,’ Bent said.