Arsenal fans noticed that Nicolas Pepe looked absolutely fuming with Eddie Nketiah came on ahead of him last night.
Bench role for Pepe
With Arsenal 1-0 up, Gabriel Martinelli appeared to be down with a fitness problem – and Nketiah was the man who was picked to come on to replace him.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s choice of substitution didn’t work.
Nketiah was guilty of missing a huge chance, as Arsenal crashed to defeat.
Everton scored two late goals to steal the three points at Goodison Park, with the pressure piling back on to Arteta.
And it seems that it may not be just the fans who aren’t exactly delighted with the Spaniard right now.
When Nketiah was getting warmed up to come on, Pepe’s reaction could be seen in the bottom right of the Sky Sports screening – and it’s fair to say he didn’t look particularly enamoured at the decision.
Surprising decision?
It was a shock to see Nketiah selected to come on ahead of Pepe.
Arteta has barely used the Arsenal forward this season, which has led to him rejecting a new contract with the club.
Nketiah wasn’t even used as an out and out striker when he was introduced, which he where he is often most effective.
While Pepe is often accused of lacking consistency, if it was a choice between him and Nketiah to play out wide, most Arsenal fans would surely pick the Ivorian.
But his latest omission hardly bodes well for his chances of playing in the future, and it will be interesting to see what the repercussions from the decision are.
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