“Shouldn’t be touching the pitch for a while”, “Nothing short of abysmal” – Arsenal fans brutally slam 24-year-old for awful display in Fulham draw

Arsenal fans have lambasted the performance of new signing Kai Havertz in their 2-2 Premier League home draw against 10-man Fulham on Saturday (August 26).

In an enthraling clash at the Emirates, Fulham opened the scoring inside the opening minute. Andreas Pereira intercepted a loose back pass from Bukayo Saka and beat the onrushing Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale at the near post.

The hosts improved after the early setback, with Saka atoning himself by scoring from the spot in the 70th minute. Just two minutes later, Eddie Nketiah put the hosts into the lead.

With Calvin Bassey getting sent off in the 83rd minute, the Gunners looked good to extend their perfect start to the season to three games. However, Joao Palhinha thwarted the Gunners three minutes from time to dampen the mood at the Emirates.

The result and the performance disappointed Arsenal fans, especially that of the 24-year-old Havertz, who had to substituted after failing to make an impact on proceedings. One fan tweeted:

"Yeah I’m sorry after seeing the way Vieira has made a difference here Havertz shouldn’t be touching the pitch for a while."

Another chimed in:

"I’m sorry but you guys defending Havertz for working hard & making runs off the ball while blatantly ignoring his inability to turn & make stuff happen in the half spaces are dominate too. We didn’t pay £65m for just duel-winning. On the ball he’s been nothing short of abysmal."

Here are the top reactions on X:

Despite the draw, the Gunners remain third in the standings.

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You cannot concede the goal we did after going 2-1 up - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta's team dropped points at home on Saturday.

Arsenal's perfect start to their 2023-24 league campaign came to an end on Saturday after a disappointing performance at home. Things started poorly with an early goal for Fulham before the Gunners squandered a 2-1 lead from a poorly marked corner against the 10-man visitors.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta bemoaned his team's poor start, profligacy on the night and Fulham's late equaliser. He said in his press conference (as quoted by football.london):

"When you make a mistake to give a goal away in the first minute it becomes much more difficult. Even in the first half, the amount of chances we created, we didn’t give anything away. In the second half, we made changes and things changed."

"We made the most difficult thing to go 2-1 up. Then you cannot concede the goal we did. You have to defend the box with your life because we should have scored four, five or six."

Arsenal will hope to return to winning ways in a blockbuster home clash with Manchester United on September 3.