Arsenal: Granit Xhaka hits out at critics like Richard Keys who accuse Gunners of ‘over-celebrating’
Granit Xhaka has blasted those who accused Arsenal of ‘over-celebrating’ their 2-1 win against Fulham.
The Gunners came back from behind to beat Marco Silva’s promoted side thanks to an 86th-minute goal from Gabriel, sparking wild scenes of joy at the Emirates Stadium.
Pundits including Richard Keys had insisted Arsenal were going over the top with their celebrations – but Swiss midfielder Xhaka has hit back, urging people to ‘show some respect’ to the Cottagers.
Granit Xhaka blasted those who accused Arsenal of ‘over-celebrating’ after beating Fulham
The Gunners scored an 86th-minute winner via Gabriel (second left) to give them a late win
He said: ‘Listen, the people maybe they forget sometimes. I have been in Switzerland, I have been in Germany, I know the leagues and the Premier League is totally different. You can play against the last [team] and you will struggle for 90 minutes. You don’t have a team here that gives up.
‘It doesn’t matter if they are 3-0 up or 3-0 down, they go for 90 minutes. You have respect for every club and the people if they say that we can’t celebrate because it was Fulham, they don’t respect the Fulham team. You saw them… they won again [against Brighton]. They have lost only against us in five games, I think.
‘So give them some credit, give them some respect – not only Fulham, but every team that comes here or we go away to, because you will struggle against every team if you are not 100 per cent ready for them.
Pundit Richard Keys had said Arsenal went over the top after beating newly promoted Fulham
‘If you don’t celebrate, they say to us: ‘Why don’t you celebrate?’ If we celebrate, they say: ‘Why do you celebrate?’ So sometimes you can’t make everyone happy. But this is our job, this is what we want to do. We celebrate if we win, it doesn’t matter against who.’
Mikel Arteta’s men had gone behind after Gabriel gave the ball away to Aleksandar Mitrovic, but equalised through captain Martin Odegaard before the Brazilian defender’s late strike.
Keys had said on beIN SPORTS on Sunday: ‘I understand Arsenal’s fans celebrating in the manner that they did. I felt that the coach and his players over-celebrated a 2-1 win against Fulham.
But Swiss midfielder Xhaka urged critics to ‘show some respect’ to Marco Silva’s Cottagers
‘I think this sort of reaction to what happened yesterday from Arteta and co tells me how far they’ve fallen.
‘Arsene Wenger would have been howled out of the arena if his team had scraped a 2-1 win with in effect an own goal that was well off-target until it took a deflection, and a present from Bernd Leno.’
After beating Aston Villa 2-1 on Wednesday, Arsenal are top of the Premier League table and are the only side to have won all five of their league games this season in the top-flight.