#Controversy

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has made his first comments after being dropped for Arsenal's north London derby win over Tottenham Hotspur. The Gunners captain was a surprise omission from the starting XI on Sunday afternoon, with manager Mikel Arteta admitting that the 31-year-old was in line to start. However, according to the Athletic, the reason Aubameyang was dropped is because he was late for meeting up with the Arsenal first-team ahead of the north London derby. And speaking to Sky Sports when explaining his team selection against Spurs, Arteta confirmed the decision was disciplinary-related but refused to go into more detail regarding Aubameyang's absence. Read More Related Articles Read More Related Articles "He was going to start the game. We had a disciplinary issue, we have drawn the line and we move on, he’s on the bench," Arteta told Sky Sports. "No, we obviously keep that internal. We have a process we have to respect for every game and that’s it. "It’s a decision made after evaluating everything about what Auba has done and that’s it. "We have other players and we’ve had to change the team recently quite a lot and we have players that are willing to play and deserve the chance, so I am confident with that." In the end, Arteta's decision to take such a stance paid off and without his leading scorer, his side came from behind to seal a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette. With that said, all appears well with the Gunners captain as he has shown his support for his teammates in the aftermath of the north London derby victory. Taking to social media after the game, Aubameyang broke his silence with a seven-word message that Arsenal fans will agree with. "North London is Red and that’s it!!!," he wrote on Instagram. Sign up to our Arsenal newsletter for the latest transfer news By signing up for our Arsenal newsletter, you will receive a once-daily email, focused around goings-on at Emirates Stadium. You won't miss a thing when it comes to the Gunners - you'll get all you need to know directly into your inbox. We'll also send out special newsletters with any big breaking news too. And with the January transfer window now open there's plenty of content to get your teeth into. How do you sign up? It's easy and only takes seconds. Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article - or any article on the Arsenal section of football.london in fact - labelled 'Get the biggest daily stories by email' and click 'Subscribe'. And that's it, you're all set. If you decide later that you no longer wish to receive the emails, simply follow the unsubscribe link in one of the newsletters - but we don't think you'll want to. For more details, click here. All eyes will now be on Thursday's Europa League last-16 second-leg clash with Olympiacos and whether Aubameyang will be recalled or is left out again. Speaking in his post-match press conference, Arteta did suggest that he is ready to move on from the minor indiscretion. "I made what I thought was the right decision," he said. "We draw a line there. Let's move on again. We know how important Auba is for the club. It's been dealt with and let's move on."