Arsenal fans demand Mikel Arteta drops two stars immediately after Newcastle defeat, they've had enough

Arsenal fans have called on Mikel Arteta to drop two players after their side's 2-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Newcastle.

The Gunners were drawn as the administrative home team for the clash, meaning they would have hoped to have taken a positive result with them to St James' Park for the second leg.

But that didn't happen, with Newcastle superb on the night and taking a first half lead through Alexander Isak's close-range finish.

They then extended their advantage in the second half when David Raya could only parry a shot into the path of Anthony Gordon, who swept the ball home to make it 2-0.

Anthony Gordon converts into an empty net to put the Magpies 2-0 up! 😳

Arsenal have a mountain to climb to get back into the leg... pic.twitter.com/mfhs8GMiZQ

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 7, 2025

Eddie Howe's side produced the ideal away performance ahead of the second leg - but it was a completely different story for the Gunners.

They had 16 shots on goal in the opening hour of proceedings but could not convert any of them, with Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal only required to make three saves during that time.

The Gunners continued to pile on the pressure late on but could still not find a way through, with Newcastle winning 2-0.

And Arsenal fans think two attackers in particular should be dropped by Arteta for the second leg on Tyneside.

Supporters namedropped Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli as the players they think should be out of the starting XI - or even as candidates to leave the club entirely.

One wrote: "Trossard and Martinelli can leave now, not good enough anymore, just pathetic and consistently poor."

A second said: "Gabriel Jesus, our most in form player, is being benched by Trossard and Martinelli."

A third wrote: "Sterling surely can't be worse than Trossard and Martinelli tonight."

A fourth simply stated: "Martinelli... not good enough. Trossard... not good enough."

A fifth added: "We need better attackers and that includes better wingers than Martinelli and Trossard."