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Football London
Football London
Sport
Greg Johnson & James Benge

Arsenal fans demand Alexandre Lacazette decision from Freddie Ljungberg after Brighton loss

Arsenal fans want Freddie Ljungberg to drop Alexandre Lacazette following his side's 2-1 loss at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Frenchman scored an equalising goal after Adam Webster opened the scoring for the visitors only for Neal Maupay to find the winner in the second half.

However, the striker's overall performance was below par and he appeared to be letting his frustrations get the better of him in front of the home fans at the Emirates Stadium.

Reporting on the match, football.london senior reporter James Benge spotted some issues with Lacazette's performance.

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"All too often he's strolling around the pitch with a furious look on him, gesturing in frustration whenever the officials, opponents or even his own team-mates did something he didn't like," he said.

"When the ball did come his way his touch looked heavy and he struggled to get his team-mates into the game. This may simply be a case of a player struggling to recover from the ankle injury that spoilt his start to the season.

"It could just be another bad night. But of late he has looked so far from the player he was last term and Ljungberg needs him to be much better or else he needs to play someone else."

Come the second half, Gabriel Martinelli was sent on to replace Lacazette and forced a good save from Mat Ryan.

For fans on social media, it was a switch that they would like to see made permanent in the starting line up.

Joe Willock was another player who cut an unhappy figure at the Emirates in the loss to Brighton.

After being selected to play alongside Mesut Ozil behind Lacazette, the young Englishman seemed to let the pressure of the game get on top of him.

In the first half, he was angrily chastised by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after playing a poor ball and falling to the floor to express his anger.

He was taken off to be replaced by Nicolas Pepe at the start of the second half and also appeared to be displeased with the decision by Ljungberg to take him off.

If the Swede is to take Lacazette out of the firing line, it could present an opportunity to Pepe or Martinelli as Arsenal try to put an end to what is now a nine-game run without a win.

Their next chance to put this poor record to bed will come against West Ham at the London Stadium.

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