A month ago
Mikel Arteta's decision during Arsenal's 1-0 Champions League victory over Shakhtar Donetsk did not sit well with Arsenal supporters. At the Emirates Stadium, Shakhtar's goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk's regrettable own goal in the first half was sufficient to divide the two teams. After Arteta's team missed a penalty in the 77th minute, they currently have seven points from their first three Champions League group stage matches.
There was a new worry for Arteta and the rest of his Arsenal team, even though there are only five teams in the table ahead of the Gunners going into Wednesday's games.Riccardo Calafiori appeared to have suffered a twisted knee during the second half. Despite continuing at first, the Italian quickly gestured to the bench and was removed.
With a busy schedule ahead of him, Arteta will suffer yet another injury setback if Calafiori is forced to miss time. Both Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were sidelined by injuries, but Arteta will be more concerned about his developing defensive issue. Full-backs Oleksandr Zinchenko was benched for the Shakhtar match, and Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and even sixth-choice left-back Kieran Tierney were not available.
However, Zinchenko himself didn't return from injury until this match, and Arteta chose to use Myles Lewis-Skelly in place of Calafiori.Another left-back alternative is Jakub Kiwior, although he was not deployed.And considering the team's injury problems, Gunners supporters weren't overly thrilled with their manager's decision to keep Calafiori on the field. One posted: "Calafiori off injured because Arteta doesn't trust squad players in games like this." "I sincerely hope Calafiori is okay," a second person said. However, unless there are no other options, Arteta will not play with children."This is a disaster," said a third. To be honest, I have no idea why Calafiori is on the field.http//Read more:
As VAR investigated an incident involving William Saliba during Saturday's match between Arsenal and Bournemouth, Richard Keys criticized PGMOL chairman Howard Webb. Referee Rob Jones first gave Saliba a yellow card in the 30th minute of this weekend's Premier League match at the Vitality after he pulled down Evanilson. But after a long on-field review by VAR, the card was soon upgraded to a red card.
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