Arsenal fans on Twitter: This was the only player who turned up against Chelsea
By Harry Sykes
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played the full 90 minutes of Arsenal’s defeat to Chelsea in central midfield – and fans lauded him on Twitter as the only member of the team who turned up.
Arsene Wenger admitted his key players were below par as he assessed why the Gunners limped to a 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Goals from Marcos Alonso, Eden Hazard and substitute Cesc Fabregas ensured that Olivier Giroud’s late consolation was rendered meaningless.
Arsenal supporters were highly critical of the players after they collapsed to a second league defeat of the week following the shock midweek home loss to Watford.
But one man who was exempt from criticism was Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had been handed a rare chance in central midfield alongside Francis Coquelin.
Here is a selection of their messages on Twitter:
Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed a central role due to the unavailability of Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla to injury, Granit Xhaka’s suspension and Mohamed Elneny’s absence at the African Cup of Nations.
Arsenal suffered in the absence of so many central midfielders and are effectively out of the title race after slipping a mammoth 12 points behind Chelsea.
In other Arsenal news, Chris Sutton has claimed Tottenham are better run than their great north London rivals.
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