Official Carabao Cup account uses perfect 50 Cent meme to troll Mikel Arteta in hilarious response to Arsenal manager's bizarre criticism of match ball

The Gunners boss bizarrely blamed the match ball for his side's 2-0 loss against Newcastle United on Tuesday in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at home. Arteta pointed out the difference between the PUMA ball used in the cup competition and the Nike-manufactured ball in the Premier League to explain why his players found it difficult to keep their shots on target despite having 23 attempts across the entire game.

The official 'X' account of the Carabao Cup came up with a perfect response to Arteta's weak excuse for the defeat, as they trolled the Spaniard by using a still from a viral clip of American rapper 50 Cent asking: "Why you say f*ck me for?"

Notably, the Gunners played with the same ball in the previous rounds of the competition and comfortably beat teams like Bolton, Preston North End and Crystal Palace to qualify for the last-four stage.

Arteta's side, who are now winless in their last two games, will aim to claim a victory this coming Sunday as they take on Manchester United in a huge third-round FA Cup fixture at home.