Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has been blasted by fans after refusing to celebrate his goal against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.
The Gunners went into the second leg of their Champions League tie already 7-1 up from the first leg.
Ivan Perisic, who used to play for Tottenham, put PSV ahead in the 18th minute before goals from Zinchenko and Declan Rice.
The Dutch side, to their credit, then earned a draw when Couhaib Driouech struck with 20 minutes left on the clock.
Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko has been blasted by fans after refusing to celebrate his goal against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night
REUTERS
Earlier in his career, Zinchenko had a brief spell at PSV – with the Ukraine international making 17 appearances for the club during the 2016/17 season.
He refused to celebrate after notching against his old side.
But fans on social media have hit out at Zinchenko, with many accusing the 28-year-old of being ‘woke’ – despite his desire to show respect.
One X user wrote: “Zinchenko refusing to celebrate is woke as f**k btw. You played 17 games there on loan, grow up.”
A second fumed: “Zinchenko not celebrating is utter woke nonsense.”
Another opined: “Zinchenko not celebrating because he scored vs a club he was on loan at is the epitome of woke nonsense.”
A fourth hit out by saying: “Lol Zinchenko was on loan at PSV 8 years ago so didn’t celebrate his first ever champions league goal. Utter woke nonsense.”
And a fifth condemned the Arsenal star by saying: “Utter woke nonsense. Just grow a pair Zinchenko smh.”
READ MORE:Former footballer ‘kicked out of Anfield’ after cheering on PSG in Liverpool Champions League clash
Zinchenko refused to celebrate after scoring against PSV, having played for them on loan in 2016/17 ❤️#UCL pic.twitter.com/J8g2Ds1tvN
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Arsenal will now face Real Madrid in the next round of the competition.
Los Blancos struggled against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, losing 1-0 in normal time – with penalties then required to separate the two local rivals.
There was controversy when Julian Alvarez’s spot-kick was overturned by VAR, with the former Manchester City star appearing to hit the ball twice.
Real then got the job done through Antonio Rudiger, with the Germany international dispatching his effort past Jan Oblak.
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The LaLiga giants, who are the defending champions, will be the favourites to go through to the last four.
Yet Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is adamant his side can reign supreme, despite the magnitude of the task in hand.
“The first thing is that you have to be at your best when it comes to that for the two games, for every minute,” he said.
“Don’t give anything away, because they’re going to take it. And today, we’ve seen that with the two goals that we’ve conceded as well, so that’s a big learning.
Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko had a brief loan spell at PSV Eindhoven earlier in his career
REUTERS
“In the end, the game is going to be decided in the boxes, individual talent, individual performances is crucial, and then creating an unbelievable atmosphere when we have the opportunity to play at home, that is crucial.”
The Spaniard continued: “Why is it important? Because we want to win. And to win, you’re going to have to go through the stages. And because the club needs it.
“We are a club, a team that wants to be the best and wants to be competing with the best clubs in the world. And in order to do that, you have to constantly be there.
“And it’s very difficult. But we’ve done it for two years in a row. And we have the capacity and the ability to do it even better.”