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Laura Woods slams Richard Keys and Andy Gray criticising Arsenal for “over-celebrating”

Laura Woods slams Richard Keys and Andy Gray as they took to criticising Arsenal for “over-celebrating” their win against Fulham.

The Gunners came from behind to beat the Cottagers 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night and continued their perfect start to the Premier League season.

Aleksandar Mitrovic gave the hosts a scare however, giving the away side the lead when he pounced on a mistake by Gabriel Magalhaes, but Arsenal showed great spirit to fight back almost straight after.

Martin Odegaard equalised just eight minutes later with a deflected effort from the edge of the box before Gabriel made up for his earlier mistake by netting from a corner after former Arsenal shotstopper Bernd Leno had fumbled a corner.

The scenes didn’t go down well with Keys and Gray, who accused Arteta and Arsenal’s players of getting ahead of themselves after going back to the top.

“It’s Fulham, and they trailed for a time,” Keys began on beIN SPORTS. “Yeah, well played, you came back to win it and they keep their 100 per cent record intact. But they haven’t won the title tonight. They’ve won a London derby… Let’s not get too carried away. We’re four games into the season.”

Gray then added: “I get the fans getting over excited. If you want me to be blunt about Arsenal, I like what I see, right? But they’ve beaten Palace, Leicester, Bournemouth and Fulham. It’s not a who’s who of big teams.

“This is over hype. It’s Fulham. This is a league game. If this was the semi-final of the cup somewhere and you’d won, then I get that. Maybe this is what he (Arteta) wants to instil here, I don’t know. I would say it’s dangerous because you’re going to have plenty of downs, that’s for sure.”

The former Sky Sports’ duo’s viewpoint was condemned by fellow broadcaster Woods. “Genuinely… what is the point of football if you can’t enjoy it in the moment?” she wrote in a quote-tweet to the clip.

“It’s just a happy team with happy fans who will probably go out tonight & get s*** faced. That’s the point. Better not celebrate a goal in case you lose the game either.”

Player ratings

Arsenal: Ramsdale (7), White (7), Saliba (7), Gabriel (7), Tierney (6), Elneny (6), Xhaka (6), Odegaard (8), Saka (7), Martinelli (7), Jesus (7).

Subs: Nketiah (7), Tomiyasu (6).

Fulham: Leno (8), Tete (7), Adarabioyo (7), Ream (8), Robinson (7), Palhinha (7), Reed (6), Pereira (6), Decordova-Reid (6), Kebano (6), Mitrovic (8).

Subs: Diop (6), Cairney (6), Chalobah (6), Stansfield (6).

Player of the Match: Martin Odegaard

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports: “It’s a big boost – and obviously to win like this as well.

“It’s really nice when you feel that adversity during the match after being in control of the match and being on top of it and hoping it was just a matter of time.

“We made a big mistake and they punished us, but how we reacted against adversity, the connection again with the supporters, the atmosphere that we created, the way we went about it, the mentality that we showed, the way Gabby played after he made that mistake and the way that the team believed we could win the match… We went for it and we managed to do it.

“Overall, I’m really pleased with the performance.

“I think that this is just the start of the season. A long, long marathon. Everybody is going to suffer at some stage. We are in a good run and we have to try and maintain it, and be humble and hungry”

Fulham boss Marco Silva told Sky Sports: “All the credit for my players, their commitment, their attitude, their organisation from the first until the last minute.

“We were better in the second half than in the first half. We had more time and more space, and that’s what we expected.

“They deserve more in terms of points, definitely. They deserve much more. The goals we conceded were unlucky. Many positives we took but unfortunately not points.

“I’m not making excuses, but nobody can compete at this level with one striker just in the starting XI.

“He’s doing an amazing, amazing job. Once again it was a great performance from him, but it’s impossible.

“Without wingers on the bench at this level it is impossible, but we are like we are and it is what it is. I hope the bad luck that we had this evening will come back for us in the future.”

Fans had their say as Laura Woods slams Richard Keys and Andy Gray criticising Arsenal for “over-celebrating”…

@KieranMaguire: #TeamWoods here

@AKent1985: These two clowns trying to stay relevant again 🤮

@JackSimmons101: Arsenal aren’t allowed to celebrate, we should know this by now.

@mickdublfc: Them pair are 2 clowns 🤡

@Banjo__7: Wouldn’t take much notice of Keys. He’s an embarrassment

@lloseby: Leave them to it.. they are working in the middle east for a reason… don’t feed the dinosaurs

@RachAFC1: Woodsy talking facts…As always! 🙌🔴⚪️

@StaceyDevlinx: Considering where we have been to where we are now Laura, I think we entitled to celebrate because it’s a thing called unity, united between the fans/club & players, if you aren’t allowed to celebrate what’s the point in being a fan

@danny_gates_: The fact they are even talking about us means we are moving in the right direction. Remember, we are always criticised for having no atmosphere, passion, fight, spirit…. Not this Arsenal. This Arsenal is different ! “ humble and hungry “

@BillyCove10: Celebrate EVERY win like it’s your last 👌🏻

@TheCockneyTurk: Well said Laura. I’m sick of people that work in sports media calling out professionals that put so much into training and mental pressure and showing human emotions when they win. This is what football is about, enjoying the moments with the fans.

@JamesGreenInUK: Well said! Every season someone calls Arsenal out for celebrating a win, just his turn this time. Football’s supposed to be entertainment…or am I wrong?

@itpatty: When your team wins regardless of who you beat it’s celebrating at the match getting pissed watching match of the day 3 times buying the Sunday paper and going to work happy on Monday thinking it’s going to happen again next weekend

@Ainz109: Now we have to make sure we over celebrate even more next time! 😂 Rattling pundits, rivals and haters 🤌 SALIBA!! 🎶

@bobbypires: These people must have never played sport to not understand winning in the dying seconds and what that feels like. it’s best feeling on earth to win last minute and that added to the celebrations. Bloody hell show no passion and they aren’t bothered and show passion and it’s ott

@andrew_wall: Well said Laura. It’s about enjoying those moments that only happen once in football. Nothing beats seeing your team either scoring a goal, making a last ditch tackle to stop the opposition and coming away with a win. We should be allowed to celebrate in any way we want.

@AdamButler483: What do you expect from them 2 dinosaurs. They’re irrelevant in the modern PL and have to he in the Middle East to try and stay in fashion. Remember what they got sacked at sky for and how keys traded his dying wife for his daughters best mate. What a guy.

@BarneyLUFC21; People were locked up for nearly 2 years and having to watch their team on the tv behind closed doors. Football is about the ups & downs through the seasons if you can’t celebrate a win you might as well go to Homebase on a Saturday looking at Dulux paint colours

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