With an hour gone and a sorry Arsenal trailing 3-0 to Manchester City Sunday, Mesut Ozil was substituted. He trudged from the pitch and as he approached the Arsenal bench petulantly kicked his gloves into the air.
These are tough times for Ozil. He has become a lightning rod for Arsenal fans' dissatisfaction over the last few seasons as the club has slipped down the Premier League pecking order. Despite his undoubted creative talent, Ozil's languid playing style has led to criticism he lacks the fight to help his team.
Sunday's substitution capped a torrid few days for Ozil, who has found himself at the center of a sporting and geopolitical row after a controversial tweet in which he took aim at China for its dealings with China's Muslim Uyghur minority in the northwest Xinjiang province.
China is taking more and more of an interest in the world's game and it hasn't taken kindly to Ozil's social media intervention.
"Just because he's a well-known sportsman, it doesn't give him the right to comment on issues relating to the national interests and he needs to explain himself," was the verdict from online sports platform Sina Sports which released a post on Sina Weibo.
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