Rio Ferdinand has slammed Mikel Arteta for his celebration following Arsenal’s third goal in their 3-1 against Liverpool on Sunday (February 4).
Speaking on his Vibe With Five podcast, Ferdinand expressed surprise at Arteta lapping the Emirates stadium during the win over the Reds. He added that the celebration almost looked like they had won the league. The Manchester United legend said via Metro:
“I thought Arsenal won the league the way your man was celebrating! Your manager’s doing laps [of the stadium]! Your manager has done his 10,000 steps today with them laps round the ground after they won! What’s this about?”
Ferdinand called the Gunners ‘deluded’ and believes they should be worried about Manchester City, who have two games in hand.
“No. No, no, no. I didn’t feel that. The celebrations that I saw didn’t correlate with what I felt about the outcome of what this game meant. It felt like you guys [think you] are on to win the league now, what I saw. Deluded. Deluded FC. You’re deluded. You shouldn’t even be worrying about Liverpool, It’s Man City you should be worrying about! Two games in hand.”
With the win on Sunday, the Gunners closed the gap on Liverpool at the top of the league to two points. However, Manchester City can move to second place if they beat Brentford on Monday night.
Rio Ferdinand praises 2 Arsenal stars after Liverpool win
While Rio Ferdinand was not happy with the wild celebrations by Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal players, he was full of praise for two of their star players. The former defender spoke highly of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, saying via Metro:
“Martinelli, I must say, he’s been off the boil recently in terms of scoring goals but today he looked like he was on it. Even when he got brought off you could see he was disappointed. Saka got a goal again, Arsenal could be dangerous now especially if they start getting their big players scoring.”
“That’s been the biggest problem with Arsenal. Saka and Martinelli last year were banging in goals and assists, this year I ain’t seen nothing in terms of goals and assists. If they start moving now, and this is the business end now, the home straight is coming.”
The Gunners next face West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday. They then head to Burnley the following weekend before traveling to face FC Porto in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
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