Mikel Arteta criticised for his decision on Arsenal 21-year-old

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Jay Bothroyd has criticised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on Twitter for his decision on Albert Sambi Lokonga against Norwich City.

The former Arsenal striker, now based in Japan and playing for Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, believes that Arteta should not have taken off 21-year-old midfielder.

Bothroyd has also said that Arsenal should have performed better against Norwich at the Emirates Stadium and should have won the Premier League game by a bigger margin.

Arsenal beat Norwich 1-0 at home this past weekend.

Lokonga started the match in a midfield-two alongside Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

The 21-year-old midfielder was taken off on 62 minutes for Thomas Partey.

The Belgium international was brilliant in the middle of the park.

The younger imposed himself in midfield, made some very good passes, and protected the backline well.

Lokonga took two shots and one was on target, had a pass accuracy of 86.5%, won two headers, took 67 touches, and made five tackles and one clearance.

Now, Partey had been injured, and it was his first appearance in the Premier League this season.

It made sense for Arteta to give the Ghana international defensive midfielder a run-out, although perhaps he should have taken off Maitland-Niles, who did not have a particularly good game.