"Has gone full Ronaldo", "Bro thinks he's him" - Fans troll Southampton star for coaching teammates from the bench against Arsenal
In a nail-biting Premier League match between Arsenal and Southampton on Friday, April 21 at the Emirates, Jan Bednarek was substituted in the first half after taking a horrifying tumble. Nonetheless, the Polish centre-back swiftly transitioned into a coaching role, spurring his teammates on from the sidelines.
Towards the end of the first half, Bednarek rose for a header but fell awkwardly to the ground after colliding with Gabriel Martinelli. The harrowing fall seemed to leave the Southampton defender unconscious as he lay immobile on the pitch.
The Saints' medical team sprinted onto the field, hastily summoning a stretcher. Astonishingly, Bednarek managed to rise to his feet and claimed that he was okay to continue. However, the medical team overruled his protests, prioritizing his safety and well-being and Duje Caleta-Car stepped in as Bednarek's replacement.
Assuming an impromptu coaching role, Bednarek pushed his teammates to persevere through the intense battle as they picked up a point against the league leaders.
However, some sections of Twitter found Bednarek's actions from the sidelines rather funny, and they trolled him with tweets like these:
Bednarek is the coach now 😂😂
Mad that Bednarek is a better coach than Gerrard
Bednarek thinks he’s him 😭💀 https://t.co/lBqnx1tpXA
Bednarek think he is Guardiola
bednarek thinks he’s cr7 for portugal
@SouthamptonPage Bednarek has gone full Ronaldo
Arsenal's late surge falls short in a nail-biter against Southampton
The Gunners were left with frayed nerves after a 3-3 draw against relegation-battling Southampton on a charged Friday evening in north London. Despite their late-game heroics, Arsenal's title aspirations took a significant hit with two dropped points.
The home side found themselves down 2-0 within the first fourteen minutes, following goals from Carlos Alcaraz (1') and former Gunner Theo Walcott (14'). However, Gabriel Martinelli halved Arsenal's deficit in the 20th minute. Ben White's header was cleared off the line by Alcaraz in first-half stoppage time.
Southampton, far from folding under pressure, re-established their two-goal lead in the 66th minute when substitute Duje Caleta-Car's header found the back of the net.
As the visitors looked set for a precious victory in their bid for Premier League survival, Martin Odegaard found the bottom corner with a brilliant left-footed strike in the 88th minute. Bukayo Saka equalized in the 90th minute to set up a fascinating eight minutes of stoppage time.
The Gunners' relentless onslaught in injury time saw Leandro Trossard hit the crossbar and Reiss Nelson's deflected shot drift agonizingly wide. With both sets of players utterly spent, the final whistle blew on a draw that served neither team's objectives.
Arsenal extended their lead over reigning champions Manchester City to five points, who have two games in hand. Southampton, on the other hand, displayed courage that belied their league position, but remain at the bottom of the table with 24 points. They are three points away from safety and have played one game more than the surrounding teams.