Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will keep his captaincy role at Arsenal despite his ill-discipline before and after their victory over Tottenham on Sunday.
A second-half penalty from Alexandre Lacazette sealed a 2-1 comeback victory over Spurs at the Emirates Stadium.
Erik Lamela had come off the bench to open the scoring for Tottenham with a wonderful Rabona finish, but was later sent off for two bookable offences, by which time the visitors were chasing the game.
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Martin Odegaard’s deflected strike had drawn Arsenal level before the break and Lacazette converted from the spot having been fouled by Davinson Sanchez.
However, the victory for Arsenal was overshadowed by Aubameyang’s absence from the match after he was relegated to the substitutes bench for turning up late at the stadium.
A report claimed on Monday that the Gabon international had left the Emirates in a hurry with Aubameyang only hanging round for 23 minutes after the final whistle, with a warm-down conducted without him.
And now The Sun has confirmed that Aubameyang ‘skipped’ the warm-down and was not given permission as he was ‘fuming’ with Arteta’s decision to bench him.
Aubameyang was said to be ‘shocked and angry when he was told that he was not playing in Sunday’s North London derby’ but it’s ‘not the first time the striker’s poor timekeeping had been an issue’.
Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi have all felt Arteta’s wrath when it comes to ill-discipline and the Spaniard maintained his consistency by taking a huge risk with Aubameyang.
Aubameyang ‘will not be stripped of the captaincy as Arteta considers the incident dealt with’ despite two previous breaches of protocol, with the striker “reminded of his responsibilities” over a tattoo while there are rumours that he once ‘turned up late for a Covid test’.
The Sun added: ‘His no-nonsense stance has been largely approved in the Gunners dressing-room and boardroom and by the majority of supporters.’
When asked after the match why it was important to dropping his captain after he broke the rules, Arteta replied: “Because for me they are the foundation and the platform that we can build something medium and long-term that is sustainable and that can bring us joy and happiness.
“Without that, I don’t believe that it would happen. That’s why I keep talking about it and acting about it. I made what I thought was the right decision and we draw a line there and now let’s move on again.
“We know how important Auba is for us and for the the club and that’s it. It’s been dealt with, now let’s move on.”
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