Arsenal won 3-2 away from home against Crystal Palace, courtesy a brace from Alexis Sanchez. But the highlight of the game was the way Arsenal celebrated the goals- or a lack of Celebration.
Sánchez scored twice but five of his outfield team-mates did not celebrate his first goal with him. The people who refused to celebrate alongside the Chilean were Koscielny, Héctor Bellerín, Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers and Jack Wilshere. Sánchez appeared to gesture in surprise at the lack of celebrations around him.
When Sánchez scored his second, Koscielny did not move from his spot inside his own half. The rest of the team did follow Wilshere – who had made the goal – over to the away enclosure where Sánchez was celebrating.
The winner at Burnley had a similar effect:
And this is not the first time such an incident has happened this season. Last month’s win at Burnley saw Sanchez slot in a penalty for the only goal of the game. Post-match, there seemed to be a dressing room bust-up with Sanchez at the heart of it.
The 29-year-old, whose contract expires in June 2018, was desperate to leave the club last summer and he was on the brink of a £60m move to Manchester City on transfer deadline day.
Arsenal’s failure to secure their 90 million target- Thomas Lemar from Monaco meant Sanchez had to stay. Arsène Wenger believed Sánchez would re-focus for the final year of his contract.
Sanchez has scored eight times this season:
Sánchez has scored eight times for Arsenal this season and he was excellent at Palace in a game that his team had to win. But his form has been up and down and it has been a constant topic of discussion at Wenger press conferences.
Some of his team-mates have grown weary of him, and they feel it would be better for all parties if he was sold. City still want him and the question is whether they will move in January or wait until the summer, when he will be available for nothing
Paris Saint-Germain have also been credited with an interest in him.
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry on the issue:
Thierry Henry said on Sky Sports after the Palace game that it was clear to him there was a rift among the players. “There is a division in the team,” Henry said. “He [Sánchez] is asking them to come and celebrate. ‘Why are they not coming? Don’t you want to celebrate?’
Henry’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness said: “It’s a divided dressing room. Some of them are not having Sánchez and his situation. I think it’s clear. I think it tells you there’s a dynamic going on in that dressing room that would suggest it’s not well.”
