Speaking to Premier League Productions, Wright said: ‘I think you should have seen the substitutions that Emery made, Malen came on, offensive, Buendia came on, offensive, I think that should have been a signal for Arsenal to say, “alright, let’s close the game now because they’re trying hard”. I think once you get past 85 minutes, Arsenal go there, let’s face it, Villa with the chances they had could have won the game, you then say, “let’s take what we’ve got now and go back to London”.’
Former Villa manager Martin O’Neill highlighted Noni Madueke’s performance and questioned his decision to take a difficult shot, rather than heading for a corner to buy time. O’Neill said: ‘I think some players have to take responsibility. You (Wright) mentioned Madueke should have taken him to the corner, this is the type of thing the manager would encourage him to do. So you talk about game management, sometimes it’s not the manager’s responsibility, he will shout, Madueke maybe can’t hear him, but he will shout take it to the corner.’
Wright replied: ‘I have to agree with Martin, naturally, as a striker if we’re in a stage of the game where they’re applying pressure, they’re putting on two strikers, then you naturally know, “I’m going to start taking it into the corner now”. Because a point at Villa at this stage is good. I think more will drop points at Villa Park, but it will be a good point to take.’
