Arsenal legend Ian Wright has been left disappointed by the club’s fans who left prematurely in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton, which all but put an end to the Gunners title bid.
With Manchester City having beaten Everton earlier in the day, Arsenal needed a win to stay within reach of an already unlikely first Premier League title in 19 years.
However, Roberto De Zerbi’s travelling Brighton proved an insurmountable task on the day, with the Seagulls coming away from north London victors, thanks to goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan.
With their side seemingly down for the count, come home supporters appeared to have seen enough, leaving the ground early – and much to Wright’s chagrin.
The former England international insisted that those fans that did leave had ‘forgotten’ what the cub’s goals were before the season, and believed that spectators should have remained in the stands and backed their side until the final whistle.
Ian Wright took umbrage with the fact that numerous Arsenal fans left the Emirates Stadium early on Sunday
Aerial television shots showed swathes of supporters departing the stadium with several minutes still on the clock
The Gunners’ unlikely title bid has seemingly been ended with a heavy 3-0 defeat to Brighton
‘What I was a little bit disappointed about was the Arsenal fans that left when it went to 2-0, because they’ve forgotten what we were aiming for at the start of the season,’ he admitted on his podcast, Wrighty’s House.
‘And how that team, with the resources, losing the players we lost, fought a City side that’s broken Liverpool averaging 90-odd points, to three games left in the season, we’ve brought them there and it’s still mathematically possible, although very remote.
‘So when I saw the people leaving, I’d rather they stayed and gave that team…Roy Keane said they were physically and mentally done, that deserved some recognition that they f***ing went for it, they fought this season for it.’
Although the Gunners sat top of the table for the majority of the 2022-23 season, they found themselves reeled in by City at last, having picked up just nine from a possible 21 points in their last seven games.
A run of three successive draws – against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton – preceded a 4-1 hammering at the Etihad, which was billed as the defeat that handed the driving seat in the title race to City.
It came as something of a surprise to many that Mikel Arteta’s young side were pushing for a top-flight crown, given their failure to reach the top four since 2015-16.
Yet their slip at the top to allow City to eat away at what was a sizeable lead has seen pundits criticise the temperament of certain players, with Gary Neville singling out Oleksandr Zinchenko for a perceived lack of composure.
‘I always doubted whether this Arsenal team, just looking at some of the things that were happening,’ he said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme.
‘The over-celebrations against Aston Villa [after the 4-2 win in February]. I look at little things that might look a little bit harsh – Zinchenko celebrating an hour after the game with the fans outside and screaming.
‘You want your leaders in the team, who have been there before to spread composure around the dressing room and calm everybody down. You don’t want them to lift the anxiety, lift the emotion.’
And the former Manchester United defender later found himself in an exchange with an Arsenal fan on Twitter over footage of the Ukrainian international tooting his horn and cheering with supporters as an example of the Gunners being ‘too emotional’.
Gary Neville accused Arsenal of becoming ‘too emotional’ in their title battle with Man City
Oleksandr Zinchenko posted an Instagram clip of him tooting his car horn and shouting ‘Come On’ to celebrating Arsenal supporters after they beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in March
Neville responded to a fan, saying that Arsenal were unable to keep their cool under title pressure
‘If he was tooting his horn 15 games out after beating Bournemouth, calling huddles 6 games out v the bottom of the league [the 3-3 draw with Southampton last month].
‘I’m filling in the blanks of what was going on behind the scenes!!! I’ve seen it before from emotional teams!
‘The experience I’m talking from isn’t just from winning titles! I lost 4/5 title races as well.
‘Some emotions aren’t positive ones for a group even if they look it!’
