Arsenal goalkeeper Alex Runarsson has deleted his Twitter account after receiving abuse from fans following his blunder in the Carabao defeat by Manchester City.
Runarsson was a surprise inclusion in Mikel Arteta's starting XI for the quarter-final tie with first choice 'keeper Bernd Leno rested.
Alexandre Lacazette had pulled Arsenal level after they went 1-0 down in the third minute but Runarsson's howler gifted City the lead again shortly after half-time.
The 25-year-old let Riyad Mahrez's weak free-kick slip through his hands, despite the shot being straight at him.
Pep Guardiola's side went on to win the game 4-1 with many Gunners fans blaming Runarsson's error for the heavy defeat with some making their feelings clear by tweeting him directly.
Runarsson deleting his Twitter account comes after Micah Richards suggested Arsenal Fan TV is 'piling the pressure' on the club's players.
Richards said: 'You know AFTV, I'm a massive fan of it, I love it. But for the players, the amount of pressure… you could be scrolling through and your name pops up and someone's being horrible and it can affect your confidence.
'These players now look at social media. Players work hard, trying to be better every day but there's negativity…'
Supporters were also critical of Arteta's decision to play the Iceland international, who was starting only his fifth competitive game for the club since signing from Dijon in the summer. His other four appearances have come in the Europa League.
The Gunners boss defended his decision to start his second choice 'keeper, saying: 'He hasn't played a lot of games for us he's just adapting to the league.
'We all make mistakes but we have to support him.
'Alex has done well in other games and these things happen in football.'
Vopikou
570
Leave him alone .We r playing like a fucking championship team from last few months and now u r abusing our young goalkeeper for an error in a Mickey Mouse cup. To be honest , arteta is our biggest problem. I don’t know how he impressed all of us in his first few months , but look at him now , he is clueless , doesn’t have a plan b, no urgency in the team , toothless attack , zero creativity. We have some good players like Leno, gabriel, tierney, partey , ceballos, auba , saka and martinelli. We just need few more players and a world class experienced manager. Then we are set to go. Arsenal is just too big for arteta . He and Pepe was a scam .
princeemmy01
385
who else noticed that players no longer test positive for covid