A miserable night for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was summed up by one brutal stat as Chelsea were humbled by Arsenal at the Emirates.
Back at the venue where he was one revered, Aubameyang was surprisingly named in Frank Lampard's XI, signifying just his fifth Premier League start for the Blues, and his first since before the World Cup. But any hopes the away fans had of him inspiring a turnaround their fortunes had all but evaporated by half time.
Interim boss Lampard had justified his call before the game be referencing the Gabon international's cameo off the bench last time out, telling reporters: "He’s shown a little bit of that (sharpness) against Brentford, and he’s a reference, he’s got a history of scoring goals, may be motivation for him to play here."
Instead, the 33-year-old managed a paltry total of nine touches in the opening 45 minutes. That statistic becomes more damning when you consider that four of them came from kick offs as the hosts cruised into a 3-0 lead.
Indeed, by the midway point Lampard had seen enough, and hooked the striker off for Kai Havertz. And amid links of a move back to Barcelona this summer, Blues fans could be forgiven for wondering if the former Premier League golden boot winner had kicked a ball for the last time in a Chelsea shirt.
Having previously impressed at Barcelona, Aubameyang signed on a two-year deal at Stamford Bridge amid financial turmoil at the Catalonia club. But his words upon arriving back in London have seemingly come back to haunt him, with many Arsenal fans taking to social media after the game with a reminder: "Arsenal...it's nothing personal," he said at the time. "I'm back. I'm blue. I'm ready. Let's go."
And having watched the second half from the bench on Tuesday, the forward found himself further in the firing line after comments from Emmanuel Petit, who represented both clubs in his distinguished career. Whilst he didn't single Aubameyang out specifically, the former French midfielder was left concerned by the second half scenes in the away dugout.
"I was quite close to the Chelsea bench and I saw some of the players having arguments between them in the second half especially," said Petit. "I was very shocked in the first half the attitude of the players, the body language, no response, no pride, no unity, no friendship.
"I was thinking you could put 20 managers on the bench and it won’t change anything at all at the moment. They need to clear something in the dressing room first and then think about the manager afterwards."
