Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was dropped for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Southampton for disciplinary reasons.
Alexandre Lacazette captained an unchanged side with Aubameyang, a late substitute against Everton on Monday, not even on the bench.
In a pre-match interview shared on the club’s Twitter feed, manager Mikel Arteta said: “Unfortunately (it is) due to a disciplinary breach.
📺 It's time to grab a pre-match word from the boss… #ARSSOUpic.twitter.com/H6KU3V7yXy— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 11, 2021
“We’ve been very consistent, no negotiables on what we set ourselves as a club, and he’s not involved today.”
It is not Aubameyang’s first transgression, having previously been benched for March’s north London derby against Tottenham after what was described as a breach of the club’s pre-match protocol.
Arteta said on that occasion “we draw a line there and now let’s move on again” but this time hinted the Gabon striker could possibly be left out for longer.
“It starts today,” he said.
“Certainly it’s not an easy situation, a situation that we want, to have our club captain in that situation.”
