Arsenal fans slammed Jakub Kiwior for his role in their clash against Brighton & Hove Albion's opening goal at the Emirates on Sunday, May 14. Julio Encisco opened the scoring for the Seagulls in the 51st minute of the Premier League clash.
Kiwior was seemingly stepped on by a Brighton player on the build-up to the goal and couldn't defend as a result. Fans, though, are convinced that it was a mistake by the 23-year-old.
They reacted on Twitter with one writing:
"That is just naive from Kiwior. Why are you going down in that situation?"
Another claimed:
"That is outrageously shit from Kiwior. He literally needs his leg to be hanging off to go down there."
The Polish defender joined the Gunners from Serie A side Spezia in January. While he has so far made only six appearances, Kiwior has impressed fans with his displays.
That, however, wasn't the case during the clash against Brighton. Fans scathed him on Twitter for his role leading up to the Seagulls' goal. Here are some of the best reactions across Twitter after Arsenal conceded:
Arsenal eventually lost the game 3-0.
Jakub Kiwior backed to challenge Gabriel Magalhaes for Arsenal starting spot
When fit, manager Mikel Arteta has used the duo of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as his team's first-choice defensive pairing. In Saliba's absence due to injury, he has used Kiwior and Rob Holding.
Mikael Silvestre, however, claimed that Kiwior can potentially challenge Magalhaes for a starting spot in the coming seasons. Speaking to Bettingxpert. He said (via Metro):
"I think Jakub Kiwior has ability. Kiwior deserves credit because coming into the end of the season when everything is at stake and you haven’t had much game time, it’s harder than we think. Well done Kiwior."
He added:
"If there was one player he should be challenging for a starting spot, it’s Gabriel Magalhães. ‘I think Saliba, when he’s on form, it’s almost a given that he would start for Arsenal whenever he comes back from injury."
Given Kiwior is only 23, he can certainly become a world-class defender in the future. The defender has so far seemed like an individual with the ability to be a mainstay at the heart of the defense for the Gunners in years to come.