Eboue the latest gormless Gunner to self-destruct

ARSENAL have pressed the self-destruct button so hard and so many times this season that finally — like an over-used letter on a typewriter — it now appears permanently depressed, a symbol of a once high-tech piece of apparatus that is no longer fit for purpose.

No technician can save the Gunners now, no last-minute work on the training ground or computer wizardry off it can rescue their championship bid; not after what happened at the Emirates last night. The button is broken and the title is gone.

What went through Emmanuel Eboue’s mind as he pushed over Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva in the 12th minute of injury time yesterday when Arsenal were winning 1-0 and about to close the gap at the top of the Premier League to just four points?