THEO WALCOTT brilliantly cut short Gary Neville’s rant about Arsenal being “bottle merchants” for over a decade.
The former Manchester United man has made the claim several times down the years due to the Gunners’ repeated failings in the league.
And he doubled down on it while hailing their 1-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday, saying: “For ten [or] 12 years, we’ve always said Arsenal just go missing.
“And they haven’t had that toughness, that strength, that power.”
Former Arsenal forward Walcott was in the Sky Sports studio when Neville once again criticised Gunners sides of yesteryear and appeared to admit the veteran pundit was right.
He said: “That’s when I was playing, yeah?”
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That sparked hoards of laughter in the studio, after which Neville said: “But honestly, today is a big moment.
“Because in a game where they weren’t at their best, which is a massive struggle, against the very best team, they’ve come through it and got over the line.”
Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected strike in the 84th-minute strike fired the Gunners joint top of the Premier League table with bitter rivals Tottenham.
After the final whistle, an elated Mike Arteta said: “I’m so proud.
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“It was the moment with the right people and the right players.
“We knew we would have to suffer and we did that.
“You need a big performance and the crowd too. It feels like a big win.
“I think the way we started we conceded the corner and then we gained some control and in the second half we started really good.
“We were there and really aggressive. The changes helped as well.
The quality they produced in the goal was top.
“City give you a lot of problems and we gave them a lot of issues as well. It is not easy to get out.
“You need the right timing, the right movement, the right moments. I like the courage.
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“You are going to have these hard moments against this team.
“You have to be direct and manage the emotions and make sure you don’t get caught against this team.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
