Soucek as we don’t know him! Provocation and foul before West Ham goal, complain Arsenal

Newcastle knocked struggling Manchester United out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, while West Ham knocked London rivals Arsenal out of the competition. The Gunners supporters have written extensively about West Ham’s win. They criticise their players, but also Tomáš Soucek.

Arsenal had the first half of the London derby under control in terms of shots, yet went to the booths at 1: 0 for the Hammers, with the score on shots being 8: 0. West Ham celebrated after Ben White’s own goal.

The Gunners protested a lot after the goal. Tomas Soucek held goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale in the penalty area, who couldn’t run onto the centre. The Czech international was saved by the fact that there is no VAR at Carabao Cup matches.

“The guy stripped Ramsdale and prevented him from going for the ball. How can this be overlooked,” wrote Gunners fan Nico under Arsenal’s Instagram post, while other users mentioned that they didn’t like Soucek’s provocative behaviour for the rest of the match.

Things got very heated between the Czech national team captain and Ramsdale. When Soucek leaned his arms on the Arsenal goalkeeper during another tackle, the Gunners’ goalkeeping duo had already aggressively lunged at him.

Although Ramsdale was right on both occasions, his frustration at the lack of game time was evident. He knew he had a golden opportunity to prove himself to Mikel Arteta and the tie was showing.

Despite Soucek’s controversial tackle, he was signed for the first goal. The Hammers’ third goal was admittedly teed up by Jakub Kiwior, but the England international goalkeeper should have reacted better.

“Arteta killed Aaron’s confidence, unfortunately we won’t see him in the starting lineup in the next few games,” sighed Instagram user Timaga96.

After the hat-trick against Sheffield, the team with the worst start to the season out of the top 5 leagues, Eddie Nketiah was much praised. Gunners supporters seem to have forgotten for a moment that the England forward has flashes of brilliance but can’t replicate them.

“Nketiah is good when he steps up against weak opponents. West Ham are solid, so he didn’t score,” Jacob responds to Nketiah’s two big missed chances.

That Gunners supporters are primarily addressing the performance rather than Soucek’s intervention speaks volumes about just how tidy the Carabao Cup is for England’s biggest clubs. The competition doesn’t qualify for European cups, and in a busy schedule, it’s paradoxically best for Arsenal and co to get out as soon as possible.

Source: Instagram