Granit Xhaka wears Arsenal captain’s armband for first time since infamous ‘f*** off’ rant and fans are behind him

GRANIT XHAKA was back wearing the Arsenal captain's armband for the first time since his infamous “f*** off” rant.

The Swiss midfielder finished the game against Crystal Palace as skipper with forwards Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off the pitch.

Arsenal captain Aubameyang - who opened the scoring at Selhurst - was sent off for a reckless foul on Max Meyer 67 minutes into the game.

Lacazette took the armband off the departing forward but the Frenchman was himself subbed off for Reiss Nelson in injury time.

It meant Xhaka ended the game as captain, with the Gunners held to a 1-1 draw on the road thanks to Jordan Ayew’s equaliser.

Xhaka was stripped of the armband in November after telling Arsenal fans to “f*** off”, which amazingly was against Palace.

But two months on and against the same side Xhaka led the Gunners team, and fans backed him online.

One said: "Xhaka ending the game as Captain. We’ve won. He was everywhere after the red card."

Another said: "Nice to see Xhaka with the captain's armband at the end."

One added: "Xhaka still got the spirit of a captain."