Arsenal star Granit Xhaka was visibly angry with £70,000-a-week teammate during win against PSV - Reports
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka was reportedly angry with teammate Bukayo Saka during their UEFA Europa League encounter against PSV Eindhoven.
As per football.london, Xhaka was visibly frustrated with Saka, who was caught off guard by a pass played into his feet during the game on Thursday (October 20).
The Englishman, who earns around £70,000 a week at the Emirates (via the Daily Mail), miscontrolled the ball and let it go beyond the touchline, ceding possession.
🗣 "The way he treats everyone around the club, and the love he has for this football club and his profession is unquestionable."
@m8arteta on Granit Xhaka ✊
Football.london's report added that Xhaka clapped in Saka's direction in a bid to tell him to be more focused.
This marks the second instance of the Swiss midfielder displaying his frustration with an Arsenal teammate during a match in the last 10 days. During the Gunners' 1-0 win at Leeds United last week, football.london reported that Xhaka was furious with right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Tomiyasu struggled against Leeds' high press and was quite negative in possession. On one occasion, he seemed keen to pass back to central defender Gabriel Magalhaes rather than move forward. This evoked an angry reaction from Xhaka, who was reportedly seen jumping in frustration.
Granit Xhaka's goal sinks PSV Eindhoven as Arsenal continue tremendous start to season
Arsenal have enjoyed a fairly comfortable Europa League campaign so far, winning their first three matches. However, they needed to work hard on Thursday to record a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners dominated possession in the first half and even took nine shots, but got none of them on target. They stifled PSV's attack with relative ease, limiting them to just a solitary off-target effort in the opening 45 minutes.
Mikel Arteta's side drastically improved in the second half, despite ceding a little more possession to the Dutch side. They eventually found the back of the net through Granit Xhaka, who swept home Takehiro Tomiyasu's cross from the right in the 70th minute.
Arsenal laid siege to PSV's goal with 16 shots and eight on target in the second half alone, while limiting their opponents to just three shots and one on target.
Apart from scoring the all-important goal, Xhaka endured a solid outing. He laid out three key passes while completing 88% of his attempts to find a teammate. The Swiss international also won a couple of ground duels and a tackle.
Bukayo Saka's game by numbers:
6 duels won
6 total crosses
5 possession won
5 dribbles (100% success)
5 chances created
5 shots
3 shots on target
0.56 xG
✨ https://t.co/wc6OJNM3Wd
However, it was the man he was visibly upset with earlier in the game who stole the show. Bukayo Saka was arguably the best player on the pitch and recorded a game-high five key passes, creating three big chances. He also completed all five of his dribble attempts.