Luton Town staff did not take too kindly to the manner in which Arsenal celebrated their recent victory at Kenilworth Road.
Arsenal certainly enjoyed their win on the road against Luton Town. At the end of a thrilling encounter, in which Declan Rice’s last gasp winner secured a 4-3 triumph for the Gunners, emotions were understandably running high.
On the touchline, Mikel Arteta’s own celebrations were deemed exuberant enough to be worthy of a booking. His yellow card earned him a suspension, which subsequently saw him restricted to a place in the stands at Villa Park last time out.
The Arsenal players celebrated with their travelling fans on the pitch after the final whistle, and the party atmosphere was clearly carried back into the dressing room with them.
In there, the players serenaded Rice with a version of the Vanilla Ice classic ‘Ice Ice Baby’. The level of the Gunners’ revelry was met with disdain by some Luton figures, though.
As reported by the Daily Mail, some Luton staff were “taken aback” by the raucousness amongst the visitors. The euphoria in the away team’s dressing room provoked one Luton staff member to jibe that “you’d have thought they’d won the league, not nicked a win at little Luton.”
Why criticisms of Arsenal celebrations make no sense
This is not the first time that Arsenal have come under fire for the levels of their celebrations. However, it is not something that will bother anyone inside the club. In fact, it is something that Arteta can use to help foster a kind of ‘us against the world’ attitude, which can be a helpful mentality to have in a squad.
From this writer’s point of view, criticising any team for the enthusiasm of their celebrations is also a fairly nonsensical position to take. The great joy of football comes from things like last minute goals and comeback wins. Fans and players alike ought to be encouraged to revel in these moments, rather than be denigrated for it. There is no upside to trying to suck the fun out of football.
What’s more, whilst Arsenal obviously did not win the league at Kenilworth Road, they moved three points closer to doing so. In what looks set to be a tight title race this season, every point matters. The Gunners looked destined to drop vital points against Luton, prior to Rice’s late intervention.
If, come the end of the season, Arsenal are crowned as champions by a two-point margin then their celebrations at Kenilworth road will be beyond reproach then.
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