Gary Neville shares what he didn’t like about Arsenal win at Aston Villa

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Gary Neville has told The Overlap that he did not like seeing Arsenal celebrate their win over Aston Villa as much as they did do, insisting that it is too early in the Premier League title race to get carried away with the emotions.

It really does appear that the battle between the Gunners and Manchester City will go down to the wire. Arsenal currently lead the way, two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side. And they could go five points clear should they beat Everton tonight.

It is a fantastic position for Arsenal to be in. And it is one that supporters would have absolutely taken after they played City at the Emirates last month.

Neville concerned after Arsenal celebrations

That night, City went top of the table after a 3-1 victory. And it seemed that things would soon get worse for Arsenal.

Their next game took them to Aston Villa. And they ended up falling behind twice in the game. Ultimately, as stoppage-time loomed, the scoreline was 2-2. And it appeared that Arsenal were about to drop further points.

However, an Emi Martinez own goal and a further strike from Gabriel Martinelli ensured that Arsenal got the three points. Unsurprisingly, the goals sparked wild scenes on the Gunners bench.

You could certainly understand why the goals meant so much to Arsenal. But Neville saw the celebrations differently. He suggested that it was too much considering the challenge ahead of them.

“We have this little group on Sky. And obviously they know that I’ve nailed my colours to the mast that City are going to win the league and I’m getting a lot of stick from Arsenal fans. But after the Villa game, I got on the group: ‘unbelievable win for Arsenal’, and ‘unbelievable win for Arsenal’. And I replied it’s all too desperate. Too much emotion, too early. It’s interesting,” he told The Overlap.

“Emotion when you’re playing and you’re that desperate that much, and you’ve still got half the race to go almost, it’s not a good thing. You ordinarily don’t celebrate that hard. So after the Villa game, I can understand how big a moment it was. And I didn’t say this publicly, but that’s quite desperate, quite early.”

It feels a little unfair for Neville to criticise Arsenal’s celebrations. Had they scored earlier in the half, you would imagine that it would have been more muted.

But the full-time whistle was looming at the end of a turbulent week for the club. And yet, they found a way to secure a massive three points.

Of course, if that was a regular occurrence, you could understand Neville’s concerns that they may burn themselves out emotionally. But given what led to their win at Villa, it is hard to be too critical.