Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang endured a nightmare return to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. The Gabonese forward spent four years with the Gunners before leaving to join Barcelona in 2022.
Aubameyang made a swift return to the Premier League as he reunited with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in the following summer transfer window - just eight months after joining the Catalan giants. Tuchel was sacked just days after Aubameyang's arrival at Stamford Bridge as he fell down the pecking order under Graham Potter before making a return to the matchday squad with Frank Lampard acting as caretaker manager.
The Blues striker had just nine touches in the first-half for Chelsea before being hooked off at half-time for Kai Havertz. Arsenal fans clearly enjoyed seeing the downfall of their former player as they have gone from strength-to-strength under Mikel Arteta following his exit from the club.
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The home crowd at the Emirates Stadium cheered loudly as they saw Aubameyang's number come up on the fourth official's board notifying the fans that he had been replaced by Havertz. The Gabon international looks set to leave the Blues this summer after a difficult season at Stamford Bridge.
Aubameyang was unable to help fix Chelsea's goalscoring problem as Lampard looks set to lose his sixth consecutive game in charge after returning to the club with things continuing to go from bad to worse for the Blues. Despite Arsenal fans enjoying Aubameyang's shocking display at the Emirates Stadium, there is a clear respect from Arteta when it comes to Aubameyang and what he managed to achieve during his time in north London.
The Arsenal boss, when speaking in his pre-match press conference on Monday, urged the home supporters to be "respectful" of their former striker. "Let's say thank you," the Spaniard said.
"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. Say thank you and be grateful."
It's a sentiment that Arteta's captain Odegaard shared prior to kick-off. The Gunners captain added: "We will welcome Auba back tonight as well. I played with him a bit before he left here, and I know about the amazing things he did here before that.
"He had some really good moments here, especially winning the FA Cup. We remember the great things he did for the club, and he is a great guy as well."
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