Arsenal fans ruthlessly slammed Albert Sambi Lokonga for his “terrible” performance in the Gunners’ FA Cup win over Oxford United on Monday.
Lokonga, 23, arrived at Arsenal in 2021 after the Gunners splashed out a £17.2m transfer fee to Belgium side Anderlecht.
The Arsenal midfielder, who made 78 senior appearances for Anderlecht, is well admired by Mikel Arteta and has made 13 appearances for the Gunners this season.
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Lokonga was offered a rare start in Arsenal’s third-round FA Cup tie against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium, but he failed to impress for the Gunners during the first half.
Arsenal were held to a 0-0 scoreline by half-time and Lokonga had very little influence for the Premier League side from midfield.
Lokonga’s disappointing performance culminated with Arsenal manager Arteta withdrawing him for Granit Xhaka in the second half.
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However, Arsenal fans were left bitterly frustrated with the Belgium international’s performance, with supporters calling on Arteta to send Lokonga out on loan or sell him.
“Lokonga has been terrible tonight for Arsenal,” one fan said.
Someone else tweeted: “Lokonga comes off and Arsenal scores, coincidence? I don’t think so.”
While another added: “See how terrible our back-up midfielders are? We need to send Lokonga on loan or sell him.”
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A fourth Twitter user posted: “We looked so much better as soon as Lokonga came off.”
And a fifth fan wrote: “Never let Lokonga put on an Arsenal shirt ever again, man.”
“Lokonga needs a loan. He never takes advantage of his chances,” another fan commented.
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Arsenal eventually made the breakthrough against a resilient Oxford side thanks to Mohamed Elneny’s opener.
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Eddie Nketiah scored a brace inside six minutes to complete a 3-0 win for Arsenal and sent Oxford United crashing out of the FA Cup.
Arsenal will now play fellow Premier League title contenders Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 28th January.
Topics: Arsenal, FA Cup, Premier League, Football, England
Adnan Riaz