EAGLE-EYED fans spotted William Saliba’s hilarious “Squidward” celebration.
Arsenal players and supporters alike went crazy when Mikel Merino scored against Real Madrid.
His sumptuous finish into the bottom corner gave Arsenal a 3-0 lead at the midway point of their Champions League quarter-final.
And especially after Declan Rice’s two incredible free-kicks, it is fair to say emotions were running high at the Emirates.
So that may explain what Saliba did.
As Merino was joined by the likes of Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly running towards the corner flag, the French centre-back seemingly ignored his team-mates.
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Instead, he conducted his own wild solo celebration.
Saliba sprinted into the background of the TV shot and ran off the end of the pitch towards the jubilant supporters.
And as he did so, the defender waved both arms around frantically.
It was so unexpected and utterly bonkers that one fan even compared his arm antics to SpongeBob SquarePants octopus character Squidward.
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When the video of Saliba’s celebration did the rounds on social media, the Arsenal supporter wrote: “That’s the Squidward,” and added a gif of the character.
Another X user said: “I did this same s*** in my living room no judgement.”
A third added: “That was me running through my whole house after that second goal.”
A fourth replied: “He’s a fan. His head was as gone as ours.”
A fifth typed: “Bro’s trynna fly, man. Allow.”
A sixth responded: “The ultimate hype man.”
A seventh noted: “I love his heart and passion. Gabriel and Saliba are truly GUNNERS.”
Arsenal ratings vs Real Madrid as Declan Rice’s free-kick thunderbolts earn him an ELEVEN out of 10
BEND it like Beckham? More like bend it like Declan…
It was a set-piece clinic from the Arsenal midfielder as he scored the first free-kicks of his career against Real Madrid – and the first player in Champions League history to score multiple direct free-kicks in the same knockout stage game.
Thibaut Courtois was on hand to save Real Madrid in a fast paced first half as he pulled off a fine double save to deny a Rice header and a follow-up effort from Gabriel Martinelli.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute as England star Rice whipped in a sensational free-kick.
Rice then sent the Emirates into the stratosphere with as he added a second with an even better free-kick from the left side of the goal which he rifled into the top right corner.
Mikel Merino then swept a devastating third into the bottom corner from a low cross to put the cherry on a remarkable night.
Rice’s epic showing was enough to earn him an unprecedented ELEVEN in our player ratings.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the rest of the Gunners…
And a final one commented in response to transfer rumours linking him with a move to the Bernabeu: “Yeah he’s not going to Real Madrid any time soon.”
Real Madrid have NEVER overcome a three-goal first-leg deficit in the Champions League.
Yet French defender Saliba is wary of Madrid’s status as the crazy comeback kings on their own patch – and told Arsenal to fight fire with fire in one of Europe’s greatest arenas.
He said: “We are not scared. We want to go there and win the game.
“We cannot defend the whole game. We won 3-0 but we know it is not finished. There are a lot of things that can happen.
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“It was incredible because to win in a quarter-final like this against Madrid, in front of our fans, is amazing. But now we have to do it again next week.
“One of the best [nights of my career] and I hope it’s not the last one.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
