Arsenal fans have blamed American personality Kim Kardashian for the side's exit from the Europa League last night, after she was spotted watching the game against Sporting Lisbon at the Emirates Stadium with her son, Saint West.
During the broadcast of the last-16 tie, BeIn Sports presenter Carrie Brown eventually confirmed Kardashian was in attendance after news filtered around the ground.
"[The] news that seems to be setting social media alight – yes, Kim Kardashian is here, we can confirm now from the communications officer," Brown said.
Kardashian later posted her visit on social media, too, which included Instagram stories saying "send help" over an image of the Arsenal matchday programme and bottles of Prime, Arsenal's official hydration partner.
Kim Kardashian on Instagram story, of her son, Saint West, donning a Katie McCabe jersey, cheering for Bukayo Saka as he takes his penalty during the shootout against Sporting CP tonight. #afc pic.twitter.com/9ze5QefoCJMarch 16, 2023
She videoed another aspect of her visit, with Saint West - donning a Katie McCabe shirt - cheering for Bukayo Saka as he scored his penalty during the shootout against Sporting.
However, some Arsenal fans have blamed Kardashian being at the Emirates as the reason why the Premier League leaders crashed out of the European competition, suggesting she offered bad omens to the side on Thursday night.
"I don’t ever want to see Kim Kardashian in North London again," one fan wrote.
"Kim Kardashian goes to London and we have two injuries and lose on PKs. That Kardashian curse something wild," another said.
Arsenal drew 2-2 on aggregate with Sporting Lisbon in the last 16 of the Europa League, with the tie eventually going to penalties. Gabriel Martinelli's penalty, Arsenal fourth taker, was saved by Sporting goalkeeper and captain Antonio Adán, paving the way for Nuno Santos to step up and send the Portuguese side through to the quarter-finals.
He duly did that, knocking Arsenal out of the competition.
"We wanted to go through and we put everything into it," Mikel Arteta said after the game. "The effort the boys put when it wasn’t our best day, individually and collectively, the hunger and the desire they showed to win, the way they were tracking back was incredible, they really wanted it and today it didn’t happen.
"We need to put our heads up, look towards Crystal Palace, it’s 11 games left, the first one starts on Sunday."
