Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cut a disconsolate figure after Arsenal threw away their Europa League advantage against Slavia Prague.
The Gunners had been leading by a goal to nil going into the final minute of stoppage time, when slack defending from a corner allowed Thomas Holes to sneak in for an equaliser.
Aubameyang had only come on in the 78th minute of the match, and he soon teed up a goal for fellow substitute Nicolas Pepe that looked to have given the Gunners the lead to take to into the second leg.
But after Granit Xhaka hit out at teammates Gabriel and Cedric for conceding the corner that led to the equaliser, Aubameyang could be seen trudging off the pitch at full-time.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
ESPN report that the former Borussia Dortmund star “headed straight for the tunnel at full-time, exchanging words or glances with nobody.”
It is thought that Aubameyang wasn’t best pleased at being left out of the starting lineup for the game, with Arteta giving a non-committal response when questioned about his discussions with the forward after match.
“Well, I cannot talk with everybody individually every week,” he said.
“We try to be transparent and communicate with the players as transparent as possible, for them to understand the role of the game that they have. When he came on he showed the right attitude.”
Whether his trudge off the pitch at full-time was also the right attitude remains to be seen, and it will be interesting to see if Arteta restores the club captain to the starting lineup for Sunday’s Premier League trip to struggling Sheffield United.
