Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Sunday, February 22, 2026, 9:03 p.m. / Updated Sunday, February 22, 2026, 9:04 p.m.
Radu Drăgușin (24 years old) was an integralist in Tottenham – Arsenal 1-4 and fought a fierce battle with Viktor Gyokeres, the author of a “double” today. The English press did not reach a consensus regarding the performance of the Romanian defender, marking him with qualifications from 4 to 7.
An excellent first half, a shaky second half in places. This is how Radu Drăgușin's performance against the Premier League leader can be summed up.
The Romanian international won most of the duels with his formidable opponent, Viktor Gyokeres, but he also made a mistake in the 3rd goal, when he gave the ball to the opponents. A part of the English press criticized him for the second goal, in which he chased Eze and left space for Gyokeres on the edge of the box.
Radu Drăgusin's notes after Tottenham – Arsenal 1-4
Those from the portal Spurs Web were harsh, giving Drăgușin a 4: “The young centre-back impressed in the first half with numerous key tackles and saves. He looked much less confident on the restart and his poor header led directly to Arsenal's third goal.”
London World moved up to 5: “He was really in the middle of things today. He grew into the game during the duel with Viktor Gyokeres in the first half, but became a mere pawn to Eberechi Eze's dangerous off-the-ball moves before Gyokeres' goal.” There were moments with safer interventions, but the “gunners” always seemed capable of dominating him“.
5 and from Football London: “Except for one phase where he was dispossessed while going up with the ball from defence, the Romanian was Spurs' best defender in the first half. However, his poor header set up Arsenal's counter-attack for Eze's second goal in the 60th minute, and from then on he had an extremely difficult task.”
Much more generous were those from London Evening Standardwith 7, a rating that only Vicario received and which was surpassed only by Kolo Muani (8) from the host camp.
“Gyokeres gave him a lot to think about, but he responded excellently and was applauded in the open stage in the first half after a solid sliding tackle inside the box.
After dealing well with Gyokeres in the first 45 minutes, he was caught out of position by Eze, which allowed Gyokeres to put Arsenal back in front shortly after the restart,” they wrote.
