Ian Wright has laughed away suggestions about Arsenal's priorities after they tightened their grip on fourth place with a win at Aston Villa.
The pundit, part of Arsenal's 1997-98 Premier League winning squad, was among those to celebrate loudly after Bukayo Saka's milestone goal gave the Gunners victory at Aston Villa. The win helped push Mikel Arteta's side one step closer to a fourth-place finish, even if Wright's former teammate Martin Keown played down their chances of Champions League qualification.
It wasn't the first time celebrations have attracted attention, with Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves speaking out after the London side's response to their win at Molineux in February. However, Wright was in no mood to entertain suggestions the celebrations represented part of the problem in Arsenal's pursuit of bigger and better things.
Arsenal haven't finished in the top four since the 2015-16 season when they ended the season as runners-up behind Leicester City. The last two seasons have seen them finish eighth - their lowest position in a quarter of a century - and the current season is their first without European football since Wright was a player with the club.
"Arsenal players & fans esp @IanWright0 celebrating win over Villa and cementing their fav position 4th as if they have won CL," one fan wrote on Twitter. "That's the whole problem with the @Arsenal!"
Wright was having none of it, though. The 58-year-old quoted the post, adding several 'blowing a kiss' emojis to emphasise his stance.
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Wright had earlier shared footage of his celebrations after the win. Philippe Coutinho came as close as anyone to spoiling the Gunners' day, drawing a save from goalkeeper Bernd Leno right at the death, but one goal was enough for the visitors.
"Bernd Leno did fantastically well when he came [into the team] today," Wright told DAZN, with the German stepping in after Aaron Ramsdale was kept out of the game through injury. "A lot of pundits have been very joyous in talking about Arsenal and how weak they are, [having] no leaders. Look at them now... this Arsenal team are a young side, we're starting to see characters grow in the side.
"We're starting to see people like Ben White, Gabriel [Magalhaes], Kieran Tierney, Odegaard, Thomas Partey. We're talking about five, six, seven, eight players are getting an eight out of 10 every week. That's what you have to do."
Arsenal's victory at Villa Park left them four points clear of fifth-place Manchester United, with a game in hand over Ralf Rangnick's side. However, Mikel Arteta's men still have to face the three teams directly below them before the end of the season.
Villa boss Steven Gerrard suggested the scoreline was fair after his team struggled to match Arsenal in the first half. Coutinho's stoppage-time effort was the hosts' only shot on target in 90 minutes, with the visiting defence holding firm.
"Obviously at 1-0 down you're chasing the game and you've got to take a few gambles, a few risks, that usually we don't want to do," he said. "First half we deserved to be behind, I thought we were second best."
