"Celebration police in full force" "Hypocrite" - Arsenal fans slam former Premier League winner for being controversial to stay relevant after recent comments
Arsenal fans have defended their team after they were accused of over-celebrating their Premier League win against West Ham.
The Gunners replaced arch-rivals Tottenham in the top four following a hard fought 2-1 victory at the London Stadium, thanks to goals in either half from Rob Holding and Gabriel.
Mikel Arteta's side stayed on the pitch afterwards to savor the triumph and thank their traveling fans, but former Blackburn and Celtic forward Chris Sutton took to Twitter to mock the Gunners for their celebrations.
Arsenal celebrating like they’ve won the league… dear me
It's not the first time this season Arteta's side have been accused of over-exuberant celebrations, and the club's fans appear to have had enough of being told how to react to their team's victories, and took to Twitter to reply to Sutton's not-so subtle dig:
@chris_sutton73 Celebration police always in full force when it's Arsenal
@chris_sutton73 hypocrite
@chris_sutton73 Not like you to try be controversial to stay relevant. Debts to pay eh! Bell end
@chris_sutton73 Agree.
Players should never celebrate goals or wins, never.
Everyone needs to stay miserable until they win a trophy
@chris_sutton73 really Chris? We've won a tough away game. We're a young team and we're one game closer to the Champions league. Not worth celebrating?
@chris_sutton73 Ah yes because celebrating is illegal now
@chris_sutton73 Whenever Arsenal celebrate a win
Rival fans: https://t.co/pIFYr4ICw4
Rent free twitter.com/chris_sutton73…
Cry cry cry cry , i like it when u cry twitter.com/chris_sutton73…
The former England striker has often made controversial statements on TV and radio, but was caught out by an eagle-eyed Gunners fan, who went back through Sutton's previous tweets to discover him defending a team's celebrations in 2016.
twitter.com/jamesmckay1986…@chris_sutton73 This you? twitter.com/chris_sutton73…
Naturally, Gunners fans leapt to this tweet and filled the replies with memes and sarcastic comments.
Arsenal once again accused of over-celebrating
As mentioned previously, the outspoken pundit wasn't the first to comment on Arsenal's exuberance after a victory, with Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves claiming they were acting like they "won the league" when his side lost to the north London outfit in early February.
The Portuguese playmaker said following the 1-0 Molineux via Europsport:
"We saw the way they celebrated the win and that shows the level we are. I didn't see Arsenal celebrating like this in the past 10 years - it was like they won the league."
Aston Villa veteran Ashley Young also took a swipe at the club's celebrations after the Gunners won 1-0 at Villa Park in March, with the defender telling VillaTV, as per The Metro:
"You saw the way they celebrated, to be honest it was like they won the league. But it shows they found it tough."
The victory over the Hammers was Arsenal's third on the spin as they remain on course to finish in the top four for the first time since the 2015/16 season.
They host relegation-threatened Leeds United next, before taking a short trip across north London to face Tottenham in a mammoth derby that could decide which club will be playing Champions League football next season.
Arsenal retake fourth spot ⬆️
#WHUARS https://t.co/I1PMf6S9uY