Arsenal vs Man City: Emirates half-empty as supporters stay away… but were they using the bad weather as an excuse?

ARSENAL fans chose to stay away in huge numbers for tonight’s home clash against Manchester City – but were they using the weather as an excuse?

There were swathes of empty red seats visible around the Emirates, while the Man City end was jam-packed.

PA:Empics Sport

AFP

Getty Images - Getty

At the weekend the Gunners were thumped 3-0 to the same opposition in the Carabao Cup final – so it won’t be surprising that many fans might be fearing the worst.

Admittedly the cold weather and disrupted travel will have made it almost impossible for SOME fans to attend the game.

But it was clear to anybody watching that huge numbers of Gooners have chosen to stay away – possibly in protest after the cup capitulation.

Manchester City fans, meanwhile, packed the away end after a treacherous journey across the country in severe weather.

With an attendance of over 59,000, the half-empty stadium will only hammer home the frustrations felt by many of the North London club’s supporters.

News Group Newspapers Ltd

David Klein

And those who did bother to turn up were dealt a blow after just 15 minutes when the visitors took the lead.

Bernardo Silva was the man to fire the champions-elect into the lead.

JUL BE GOOD THIS is the man Arsenal should replace Arsene Wenger with

By half-time it was even worse for the sorry bunch of home fans who attended.

The Gunners were 3-0 down as David Silva and Leroy Sane added to Bernardo Silva’s strike.

Ex-footballers Chris Sutton and Jody Morris were keen to point out the sorry attendance in posts on Twitter.

While others on social media joked that the attendance will still be read out at a hefty figure, despite it being quite clearly far from full.