The Carabao Cup's social media account seems to have taken a dig at Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta using a meme of popular rapper 50 Cent. This comes amidst the Gunners boss' comments about the Puma ball used in the Carabao Cup.
The Spaniard's side fell to a 2-0 loss at the hands of Newcastle United yesterday (January 7) in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie. The match, which took place at the Emirates Stadium, saw the Gunners fail to score in front of their fans.
On the other end, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon scored for the Magpies in the 37th minute and 51st minute, respectively. After the game, Mikel Arteta rued Arsenal's missed chances while attributing some blame for the loss to the ball used in the competition. He said (via Sky Sports):
"I think we kicked a lot of the balls over the bar and it's tricky that this ball flies a lot. We discussed that as well, so there are details that we can do better."
"It's just different, it's just very different to the Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies different. When you touch it, the grip is very different as well, so you have to adapt to that..."
In reaction, the Carabao Cup social media account on X reposted a video of Mikel Arteta's comments with a meme of an exasperated 50 Cent:
Arsenal had 23 shots at goal but only three shots were on target on the night. Their opponents, on the other hand, were more clinical, with four shots on target from seven shots in total.
Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal fans leaving the Emirates Stadium during 2-0 loss to Newcastle
Mikel Arteta has reacted to unhappy Arsenal fans who decided to leave the Emirates Stadium as the Gunners struggled to score against Newcastle. With his side failing to find the target, a number of fans left the stadium, with seats noticeably empty well ahead of the final whistle.
The manager addressed the situation, explaining in his press conference after the game. He said (via the club's official website):
"That's their decision. We try our best and it's their decision to stay right behind the team or leave. I think I repeated a thousand times how important they are and how critical it is to maintain the level of energy and belief in the stadium to generate big moments at the end that we could have had and because we were very close to score [and make it] 2-1 and we would have needed that, but that wasn't the case and that's not good."
Arsenal will return to action against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on January 12 for their third-round FA Cup clash.