Gary Neville has mocked Arsenal fans who criticized him for his criticism of the team’s ‘over-celebration’ ahead of the Gunners’ title implosion.
Their 3-0 loss to Brighton on Sunday – coupled with Man City’s victory over Everton by the same scoreline – meant Pep Guardiola’s side were four points clear with a game less and could now win the league if they beat Chelsea this weekend.
Dissecting what was wrong with Mikel Arteta, Neville accused Arsenal of ‘over-celebrating’ victories and claimed their players were guilty of getting ‘too emotional’ as they battled against City.
The Sky Sports pundit used the viral social media clip of Oleksandr Zinchenko honking his car horn and shouting ‘come on’ as he drove past a group of celebrating Arsenal fans after their 4-1 win over Crystal Palace in March as an example.
By then the Gunners were eight points clear of City at the top of the table, but a ruinous run of just nine points from a possible 21 saw their title run derailed.
Gary Neville has mocked Arsenal fans who criticized him for his criticism of Oleksandr Zinchenko following the Gunners’ title implosion.
Zinchenko had posted an Instagram clip of him honking his car horn and shouting ‘Come on’ to celebrate Arsenal fans after beating Crystal Palace 4-1 in March
Their title challenge has since imploded as they collected just nine points in seven games
City are now four points clear after Sunday’s results and still have one game in progress against Arsenal
And following his criticism, Arsenal fans were quick to hit back at Neville on social media.
An Arsenal fan has shared a photo from a MailOnline article from 2016 when the former United defender admitted he would be fined £5,000 for his infamous celebration against Liverpool a hundred times over.
In the 2006 clash at Old Trafford, Rio Ferdinand scored a late winning goal to secure a 1-0 victory before Neville celebrated madly in front of the Reds fans.
They also posted another screenshot from his playing days when Neville slammed the FA for fining him for his passionate celebration in the aforementioned game, saying that “they (must) want robotic players devoid of passion”.
They had captioned the two photos with: ‘Is that you @Gnev2?’.
The expert shared the tweet and said “I think so”, coupled with a party emoji.
Elsewhere, another tweet from a Gunners fan said: “Does anyone remember Gary Neville kissing Paul Scholes on the lips as United beat City in 2010, only for Chelsea to win the league that year ?” Celebrating too much @GNev2?’
It was then that Scholes scored an injury-time winner against bitter rivals United in one of the final games of the 2009-10 season as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side battled with the Blues for the title.
The former United defender laughed off several tweets from Arsenal fans after his comments
Neville had accused the Gunners of getting ‘too emotional’ in their title battle with Man City
Neville laughed at the tweet and simply said, “Look at them!”, along with four crying laughing emojis.
Meanwhile, Neville then added another tweet which read: ‘How many fan channels do Arsenal have?’, along with the same emoji as he reveled in the meltdown of Arsenal fans.
In his original review of Zinchenko on Monday Night Football, the 48-year-old said: “I always doubted that this Arsenal team [could win the title]just watching some of the things that were going on.
‘Excessive celebrations against Aston Villa [after the 4-2 win in February]. I look at the little things that may seem a bit harsh – Zinchenko celebrates an hour after the game with the fans outside and shouting.
“You want your leaders in the team, who have been there before, to spread calm in the dressing room and calm everyone down. You don’t want them to lift the anxiety, lift the emotion.
Neville then responded to an Arsenal fan on Twitter, who said: “There are reasons Arsenal’s results have fallen but I don’t think Zinchenko honking his car horn at some Arsenal fans in be a part.”
He incorrectly said Zinchenko’s video appeared after the dramatic 3-2 win over Bournemouth rather than Palace’s victory just before the international break in March.
Gunners fans had highlighted Neville’s passionate celebrations as a player, such as his infamous celebration against Liverpool in 2006 (left) and when he kissed Paul Scholes when United beat City in 2010 (right)
Neville’s comments on Monday Night Football were recalled by an Arsenal fan on Twitter
Neville responded by saying Arsenal were unable to keep their cool under title pressure
But the fan pointed out that both results came in the middle of a seven-game winning streak in the league, which puts Mikel Arteta’s side in a very strong position to clinch a first title since 2004.
Neville later replied: “If he sounded his horn 15 games after beating Bournemouth, calling caucuses 6 games against the bottom of the league [the 3-3 draw with Southampton last month] I fill in the blanks with what was going on behind the scenes!!! I’ve seen it before from emotional teams!
“The experience I’m talking about isn’t just winning titles!” I also lost 4/5 title races.
“Some emotions are not positive for a group even if they seem to be!”
