Viewers of the meeting between Ghana and Morocco this evening have taken to social media in their droves, to react to the showing of Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey.

Boufal the difference

Monday saw the highly-anticipated African Cup of Nations kicked into full swing.

After tournament hosts Cameroon got their campaign off to a winning start courtesy of an opening day downing of Burkina Faso, a further quartet of fixtures played out over the course of the day to date.

One such matchup came in the form of a showdown between two heavyweights, in the form of Morocco and Ghana, in Yaoundé.

A tense affair ultimately saw the former just edge things, to eventually emerge on the right side of a 1-0 scoreline.

The game’s telling moment was forthcoming inside the closing ten minutes of action, as some less than impressive defending on the part of Ghana allowed former Southampton attacker Sofiane Boufal to swivel and pick out the far corner in style:

Partey targeted

And, as alluded to above, on the back of the action coming to a close at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, one key member of Milovan Rajevac’s Ghana side has since been singled out for altogether heavy criticism.

The player in question? Thomas Partey.

Arsenal star Partey, as expected, was utilised from the off on Monday, but struggled throughout in his efforts to gain control of proceedings in the middle of the park.

In addition, it was the 28-year-old’s heavy touch which led directly to Boufal lashing home the evening’s winner, with both supporters of Ghana, and neutrals alike, having, in turn, taken firm aim at Partey across social media post-match:

 

Arsenal dealt double transfer blow as clubs appear to drop interest in pair of defenders

Striker hunt on hold? Arsenal set to offer Alexandre Lacazette new contract