Ben White opted for the dark arts during the North London derby on Sunday when he celebrated Arsenal’s winning goal while his former England team-mate James Maddison was devastated.
Gabriel scored the only goal with a header from a corner. It seemed to take a long time for the goal to come after Tottenham had repeatedly given panicked defensive corners.
Mikel Arteta’s weakened team needed 64 minutes to break the deadlock and when they did, they erupted in wild celebrations at their rivals’ stadium.
Fans watched as White clenched his fists and screamed in Maddison’s face for a few seconds as his teammates drove away to celebrate his victory.
Maddison was part of England’s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which White pulled out of for ‘personal reasons’ – with The Telegraph He then reported that he had had an argument with Gareth Southgate’s assistant Steve Holland in front of his teammates.
Ben White celebrated Arsenal’s winning goal against Tottenham in James Maddison’s face
Gabriel rose above the crowd to head in the winning goal, giving the Gunners another away derby win
Mikel Arteta praised his team’s ‘ugly’ performance and ‘thick skin’ as they missed some stars
Only after challenging Maddison did he run towards the group at the corner flag, as Gabriel and his team-mates cheered for the away fans.
White’s celebration divided opinion among fans, with some praising his passion, while others found it classless.
“Ben White celebrating in Maddison’s face. Amazing,” wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.
‘It’s a derby ffs, this is exactly what should happen,’ posted another. ‘None of that hugging and hugging of opponents, managers and players, nonsense. As a fan in a derby we want players to give everything and be as passionate as we are.’
“We love his shameless actions,” wrote a third.
Not everyone appreciated the move, with one saying: ‘Classy – NOT and no, I’m not a Spurs fan. Remind me what you’ve won in recent years?’
A hard-fought win for Arsenal, with several players missing, saw them move into second place in the Premier League with 10 points from four games, two behind Manchester City.
The Gunners struggled for a long time, but defended resolutely and kept a clean sheet for the third time this season.
Arsenal have won six consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since 2013
Spurs remain stuck in the bottom half after winning just one of their first four games this season
Arsenal fans loved White’s behaviour, but other viewers found it indecent
It was the third successive win on Tottenham’s pitch and the sixth successive Premier League victory for Arsenal, having last done so in 2013.
Their set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has drawn much praise and they have scored 24 goals from set pieces since the start of last season, the most of any team in the Premier League.
Arteta faced difficult circumstances with Declan Rice suspended and Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mikel Merino and Takehiro Tomiyasu all injured.
“It’s going to be an important week and that will give us a lot of motivation, energy and confidence,” Arteta said after the match.
“The people we have, we have people who are tough and have thick skin. They love the game and we love to win.
‘To love the game and win, you have to do things that people find ugly.
Arteta praised his players’ adaptation to the game despite their injuries and suspension problems
“Enjoying those ugly things is a big compliment for this team at the moment. If you can do that normally, you get a nice gift.
‘The players adapted. Loving the game means being able to do things regardless of the context.
“They all have the same spirit and character traits that I love.”
Spurs remain in the bottom half of the league, having taken four points from as many games.