Arsenal got the better of West Bromwich Albion this evening, with the club’s fans having since taken to social media in their numbers, to poke fun at Sam Allardyce.
Willian breaks his duck
The Gunners were back in action a short time ago.
Mikel Arteta and co. welcomed West Brom to the Emirates, for a Premier League clash.
The matchup, in truth, was of little importance to the hosts, who were playing for pride on the back of an embarrassing exit from Europe during the week.
The visiting Baggies, on the other hand, were aware that defeat this evening would see their relegation to the Championship confirmed.
And, when all was said and done in north London, this is precisely what came to unfold.
An entertaining affair eventually saw Arsenal emerge on the right side of a 3-1 scoreline, to climb back above Leeds into 9th in the English top-flight table.
Emile Smith Rowe opened the game’s scoring shortly before the half-hour mark, lashing home Bukayo Saka’s delivery from the left to bag his first-ever Premier League goal:
Saka 🤝Smith-Rowe
Tough season, but these youngsters have continued to shine through 🤩
Could the future be brighter for Arsenal 🤔 pic.twitter.com/UV7YrkpxSf
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 9, 2021
Nicolas Pepe was next up, bending a stunning effort beyond the clutches of Sam Johnstone and into the top corner of the visitors’ net.
West Brom, to their credit, did manage to pull one back a little over twenty minutes from time, when Matheus Pereira continued to impress with the 10th goal of a fine individual campaign.
But Arsenal killed off any remaining hope of a comeback in the matchup’s dying moments, when Willian stepped up to curl home the first goal of his stint with the Gunners, courtesy of a superb free-kick:
Willian… Scores!
His FIRST goal for Arsenal, a wonderful free-kick 💫
Lovely finish 👏 pic.twitter.com/3EHrVvkUVC
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 9, 2021
Saka starring/Allardyce targeted
On the back of the action coming to a close in the capital, though, it is not Willian, nor fellow goalscorers Smith Rowe or Pepe who have taken the plaudits.
Instead, it has been youngster Bukayo Saka.
The 19-year-old was forced into an unfavoured left-back berth this evening, with Kieran Tierney having not been fit enough for a 2nd successive start.
And Saka, as seems to be the case no matter where he plays, went on to thoroughly impress, giving rise to a series of eye-catching statistics surrounding the production of Arsenal’s crown jewel:
19 – Bukayo Saka has made 19 assists in all competitions for @Arsenal, the most of any player for the club since making his debut in November 2018. Resourceful.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 9, 2021
Saka has now assisted or scored goals from left-back, right-back, central midfield, right wing & left wing this season.
— Premier League Panel (@PremLeaguePanel) May 9, 2021
Saka praise aside, though, the Gunners faithful have also taken to social media in their numbers for a very different reason.
This comes with supporters of Mikel Arteta’s men having taken solace for another hugely underwhelming campaign in sending a Sam Allardyce-led side back to the Championship, for the first time in his managerial career:
A Willian Goal to relegate Sam Allardyce 🤩
— leigh (@leigh___michael) May 9, 2021
Seeing Sham Allardyce going down is as good as a trophy
— gooner mattata (@MattiePowell) May 9, 2021
Relegating Sam Allardyce is actually one of our biggest highlights of the season. How far we’ve fallen.
— Chris Godfrey (@ChrisPJGodfrey) May 9, 2021
Arteta is the first manager to relegate Sam Allardyce
Put some respect on my gaffer’s name pic.twitter.com/3nFa3aApHq
— Don’t Jack my Grealish (@OrionPax6969) May 9, 2021
December 2020 – Sam Allardyce on if Arsenal (15th in the Premier League at the time) were West Brom’s rivals at the bottom of the table: “Absolutely! They will be wondering what has hit them.”
May 2021 – Arsenal beat West Brom 3-1 to relegate them from the Premier League.#afc pic.twitter.com/fReKyzFVcf
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) May 9, 2021
2003 – Sam Allardyce’s Bolton kick Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal off the pitch, damaging our title hopes.
2011 – Wenger signs Mikel Arteta
2019 – Arteta becomes Arsenal manager
2021 – Arteta’s Arsenal relegate Allardyce for the first time.
He’s….he’s done it again!! pic.twitter.com/ja0WKUNIDf
— London’s Red, Bitches (@LondonsRedFb) May 9, 2021
Sam Allardyce has never been relegated from the Premier League before today
Willian: pic.twitter.com/wG27ICIJYf
— أمين (@jackhatesmelol) May 9, 2021
You can keep your Premier League, top four and Europa League. Relegating Sam Allardyce is what football is all about pic.twitter.com/4NRp2kpMRz
— The Bald Gooner (@TheBaldGooner) May 9, 2021
Listen, we can all hate this season… but relegating Sam Allardyce for the first time ever comes with a bit of satisfaction.
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) May 9, 2021
Mikel Arteta is the only manager to relegate Sam Allardyce. 3 more twitter points for Arsenal as we close into the twitter PL title! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/SB6jWGm5Kk
— Bhavs (@bhavss14) May 9, 2021
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