“Worst full back in PL history”, “Agree mate” - Gary Neville involved in spat with Arsenal fans after incident during Crystal Palace game
During Arsenal's 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace, Gary Neville was involved in a spirited debate with fans on social media.
The controversy stemmed from Gunners' defender Gabriel, who provided a powerful header to open the scoring. However, he seemed to climb over Crystal Palace's Chris Richards to send his header in, which led Gary Neville to raise questions about double standards.
In a previous incident against Newcastle at St James' Park last year, Gabriel was in a fairly similar position to Chris Richards. Joelinton climbed over the Gunners defender leading to a goal that won the game for Newcastle. This saw Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta lambast the decision to allow the goal, criticizing VAR's non-intervention.
At the time, Neville was in disagreement with Arteta's stance, and this sparked backlash from the fans. Now, with Gabriel jumping over Richards to score for the Gunners, Neville began the debate about double standards on X (formerly Twitter). He demanded to know if Arsenal fans would agree to Gabriel's leap being a foul since they claimed the similar incident against Newcastle was a foul.
It led to one fan calling him the:
“Worst full back in PL history”
Neville responded:
“Agree mate”
Here are his posts debating with the fans:
Neville added:
Arsenal secure dominant 5-0 win over Crystal Palace
The Gunners spectacularly ended their recent slump with a 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace. The result has seen them regain their stride in the Premier League, and takes them to third place, two points behind Liverpool in first.
Gabriel Magalhaes headed the Gunners into the lead in the 11th minute. His influence was also felt when another header by him resulted in a Dean Henderson own-goal, doubling the lead.
The second half continued in the same vein, with Leandro Trossard breaking his 10-match goal drought around the 60-minute mark. The closing moments of the match were marked by Gabriel Martinelli's stellar performance off the bench as he netted twice in stoppage time to ensure a commanding victory for Arsenal.
Both teams have a 10-day gap before their next Premier League engagements. The Gunners, riding high on this win, will aim to maintain their form in an away fixture against Nottingham Forest. Crystal Palace, on the other hand, have suffered seven losses in their last 12 games, and they will be under pressure to turn things around when they host Sheffield United at home.