The Arsenal faithful have flooded to social media this evening, to take firm aim at one particular member of Mikel Arteta’s squad.

Martinelli at the double

The Gunners of course made their return to action a short time ago.

No doubt brimming with confidence on the back of a pair of wins over Southampton and West Ham over the course of the last week, Arteta and co. made the trip to Elland Road, keen to extend their advantage over the rest of the Premier League’s top-4 chasing pack.

And, when all was said and done on Saturday evening, this is precisely what they managed.

A commanding performance, which saw them essentially out of sight by half-time, ultimately culminated in Arsenal emerging on the right side of a 4-1 scoreline.

Gabriel Martinelli proved the undoubted star of the show, adding to his strike against West Ham last time out with a sumptuous brace, the 2nd of which can be seen below:

Then, before the whistle had even blown for the interval, Bukayo Saka essentially killed the clash as a contest, with an Arsenal 3rd.

Raphinha did manage to add some respectability to the result courtesy of a wonderfully-placed penalty inside the closing 20 minutes of action, but Emile Smith Rowe’s close-range finish a short time later buried any remaining hope of a Leeds comeback.

Xhaka slammed

Arsenal, in turn, have climbed a full four points clear in the race for 4th in the Premier League (albeit with the clubs below them of course boasting games in hand).

As alluded to above, though, on the back of a fine evening’s work all-round for the club, many of a Gunners persuasion have nevertheless not been shy in taking firm aim at one member of Mikel Arteta’s squad.

The player in question? Granit Xhaka.

Early in the 2nd-half, with his side cruising in possession of a 3-goal advantage, Swiss midfielder Xhaka was guilty of a completely needless lunge on Raphinha, which saw the 29-year-old blessed to avoid not only a booking, but potentially a straight red card:

The challenge served as a timely reminder of Xhaka’s penchant for moments of frankly inexcusable madness, a problem which has led some of an Arsenal persuasion to go as far as to reignite calls for the midfield maestro to be moved on in January:

 

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