A portion of Arsenal fans wasted no time in booing former Gunners captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during their huge match against Chelsea.
Aubameyang, 34, spent four years at the Emirates Stadium and established himself as one of the club's most influential players before his stint turned sour. Following a string of disciplinary issues, the Gabon international was stripped of the captaincy and frozen out of the team by Mikel Arteta before leaving the club under a cloud back in January 2022.
He made his first return to the Emirates as a player in the Chelsea team that travelled to north London on Tuesday night.
And even though Arteta made a point of pleading for Arsenal fans to give Aubameyang a warm reception for all the good times he enjoyed at the club, he was treated to a chorus of boos from the home crowd as he waited to start the match alone in the centre-circle.
Speaking before the match, Arteta said of Aubameyang: “Let's say thank you, pay respect and gratitude for what he was. He was an incredible player for us, scored a lot of goals, he was our captain, and he deserves that.”
Aubameyang has been brought back in from the cold by caretaker manager Frank Lampard. The striker's appearance at the Emirates was his first league start since the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge all the way back in November.
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After dropping points in four successive matches in the build-up to Tuesday's match, Arteta spoke of the importance of responding in the right way between now and the end of the season as they bid to pile pressure on Manchester City during the title run-in.
"It is difficult but in sport, you have to accept the reality, and when a team is able to take the game to a different level and you're not able to step up to that, you have to recognise that there is still work to do, not get confused, be very humble and recognise what our strengths are and what our weaknesses are to be better," the Arsenal chief said.
"The reality is as well that for 247 days we have been with them, and tomorrow can be another where we are still there. There are five games to go so there are a lot of things that we have done well for 10 months.
"Now it is not in our hands, but what is in our hands is to win our games. That's what we are going to try to do and the rest is down to City."
