Arsenal players, staff and fans 'set the example' for how other clubs should respect the memory of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
That is the view of Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne, who described the league leaders as 'really classy' in their approach to yesterday's match against Liverpool.
The match took place just five days before the 34th anniversary of the 1989 disaster which took the lives of 97 Liverpool fans. Ahead of the game, Arsenal manager Mike Arteta and captain Martin Odegaard were seen laying wreaths at the Hillsborough memorial at Anfield. Arteta was also seen wearing a 97 badge during the match.
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Ahead of kick-off on Sunday, both sets of fans impeccably observed a minute's silence in tribute to the victims of the disaster and unlike in recent grim times from rival fans, there were no chants mocking the disaster from the Arsenal end.
The rise in offensive chanting about Hillsborough has been a growing issue in football and one Liverpool FC and Reds' supporters have regularly condemned.
Mr Byrne, a survivor of the 1989 tragedy, has previously described such offensive chanting related to Hillsborough as 'incessant' in a letter to the FA. The MP is now leading on a campaign for a Real Truth Legacy Project that aims to educate all generations about the injustice and establishment cover-up of the 1989 disaster. He hopes the project will change attitudes and bring an end to such offensive chants.
But the Labour MP was full of praise for the levels of respect shown by Arsenal before, during and after their 2-2- draw at Anfield.
He said: "A huge thank you to the travelling Arsenal supporters who were fantastic yesterday in their respect for the minutes silence for Hillsborough and throughout the game. A class act on and off the pitch.
Speaking to the ECHO, he added: "Arsenal really set the example when it comes to showing respect around Hillsborough and we hope that other clubs and other fans will follow their example.
"They were really classy and you could hear a pin drop during the silence. There was not one chant about Hillsborough during the match. We hope the message can get through to other fans that it is not acceptable."
More evidence of the levels of respect on show from Arsenal fans emerged through a video clip on social media that shows Gunners fans in a pub observing their own immaculate silence to match the one in the ground before kick-off.
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