Arsenal beat Fulham 3-0 to move back five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, before celebrating with a clock.
First half goals from Gabriel, Gabriel Martinelli, and Martin Odegaard sealed a comfortable three points as they responded to Manchester City’s victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday.
After the match, Oleksandr Zinchenko uploaded an Instagram image of the players celebrating in the dressing room with a clock.
The clock appeared to be a replica of the famous Clock End clock that was seen at the old Highbury Stadium and was brought to the Emirates.
The time on the clock said 1:55pm.
Considering the match kicked off at 2pm, the time clearly wasn’t correct.
So why were Arsenal players celebrating with a clock and why did it show that exact time?
Well, Gooners have their theory and think Mikel Arteta is up to his pre-match tricks.
As seen on Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing, Arteta loves a pre-match motivational message.
Whether it’s telling the side to imagine they’re a lightbulb or getting the club photographer to give a speech ahead of the north London derby, the Spaniard often had something planned before each match in the dressing room.
And by showing a clock with the hands facing 11 and two, fans are confident they know exactly what Arteta’s pre-match message was.
Following the Fulham game, Arsenal now have 11 matches to go. They’re five points clear so can mathematically win the title with two matches left.
Eleven to go. They can win the league with two games left.
We imagine that Arteta will bring out the clock for Arsenal’s home clash if they beat Crystal Palace next weekend with one hand pointing at 10. It will tick down until the big hand reaches the little hand – otherwise known as the matchday in which the Gunners can win the league.
Check out the reaction from fans on social media.
After the match, Arteta admitted he was really pleased with the performance of his side at Craven Cottage.
“Really happy, it’s a really tough place to come against a well-organised team. I think we dominated the game, we created so many chances, we kept a clean sheet – which was really important. And we won the game in a convincing way so I’m very happy.”
