Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka arrive at Emirates at 5am in Arsenal party | Football | Sport
Declan Rice celebrating outside the Emirates at 5am. (Image: Reddit)
Arsenal stars celebrated well into the early hours during their Premier League title party, with Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and a host of team-mates seen turning up at the Emirates Stadium at 5am. The Gunners secured their first league title in 22 years after Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday evening.
The squad initially assembled at the training ground, where players, Mikel Arteta and staff watched City’s match together. Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Burnley on Monday meant Pep Guardiola’s side required all three points on the south coast to push the title race to the final day, but they fell short.
Festivities began at Colney, while thousands of supporters made their way to the Emirates, where they were joined by club legend Ian Wright. Rice offered a glimpse of the celebrations, posting a photograph with his teammates on Instagram accompanied by the caption: “I told you all.. it’s done,” followed by a trophy and love heart emojis.
Meanwhile, Saka and Myles Lewis-Skelly took aim at the critics who suggested Arsenal would ‘bottle’ the title. Lewis-Skelly, clutching a champagne bottle, said: “They called us bottlers and now we’re holding the bottle.”
Saka replied: “Now we’re holding the bottles. Yeah!”
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Last month, following Arsenal’s 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth, a City supporter went viral for brandishing a water bottle bearing Arsenal’s logo and pretending to drink from it – an obvious jibe implying the Gunners would ‘bottle’ the title race.
The footage amassed over 700,000 views on X within 60 minutes, intensifying the pressure surrounding Arsenal’s championship challenge.
Several squad members were subsequently captured on video arriving at the Emirates Stadium in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
One fan filmed the likes of Jurrien Timber, Saka, Rice and Eberechi Eze walking outside the ground. “Don’t play with them, man,” the fan said.
Bukayo Saka joined the festivities at the stadium. (Image: Reddit)
Eberechi Eze shushed Arsenal’s critics. (Image: Instagram)
“That’s the champions right now, we’re live with the champions right now.”
Eze also posted a significant photograph, holding a finger to his lips outside the Emirates – an unmistakable ‘shush’ directed at the critics.
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Having relinquished the title race, Guardiola extended his congratulations to his former assistant Arteta. “Congratulations to Mikel, congratulations to Arsenal, they have been phenomenal,” he said.
“We were close. On behalf of everyone at Manchester City, we congratulate Mikel and all the staff, players and fans on winning the Premier League. They deserve it.”
It marks an emotional week for Guardiola, with the City manager preparing to depart the Etihad after a decade in charge following Sunday’s final home fixture against Aston Villa.
Arsenal are poised to lift the Premier League trophy this Sunday when they travel the short distance to Selhurst Park for their final-day clash with Crystal Palace.
