Fans think Shkodran Mustafi is to blame after BATE beat English opposition for only the second time

Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has played in both of BATE Borisov’s victories over English opposition, with the second coming nearly ten years after the first.

The German started at the heart of the Gunners defence as they fell to a 1-0 defeat in the Europa League round of 32 first leg tie on Thursday evening. 

And to the surprise of many football fans, Mustafi also featured as a late substitute in Everton‘s defeat by the same score line in a European group game in December 2009. 

Shkodran Mustafi played in Arsenal’s defence during the Europa League defeat against BATE

Mustafi also came on as a 76th minute substitute in Everton’s 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park in December 2009, BATE’s only other victory over English opposition

Stanislaw Dragun heads in from a corner moments before half-time at the Borisov Arena

Mustafi, who had signed for the Toffees as an academy player in May 2009, came off the bench on 76 minutes at Goodison Park, just seconds after BATE had taken the lead through Alyaksandr Yurevich. 

After BATE defeated Arsenal ten years on, thanks to a Stanislaw Dragun goal, football fans took to Twitter to discuss Mustafi’s impact on both matches. 

One person tweeted: ‘This explains everything.’ 

Another supporter vented their frustrations by posting: ‘You have got to be kidding me.’ 

Arsenal will look to overturn their one-goal deficit in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday, February 21. 

Mustafi challenges for the ball with goalscorer Dragun as Arsenal chase an equaliser

Alexandre Lacazette sees red for a robust challenge on Aleksandar Filipovic