Ben White chose the dark arts in Sunday’s north London derby as he celebrated Arsenal’s winner in the face of a devastated James Maddison.
Gabriel scored the only goal with a header from a corner and it felt a long time coming after Tottenham’s repeated panic defending corners.
Mikel Arteta’s depleted side took 64 minutes to break the deadlock and when they did they erupted in jubilant celebration in their rivals’ stadium.
Fans spotted White clenching his fists and roaring in Maddison’s face for a couple of seconds while his team-mates wheeled away in celebration.
Maddison was part of the England squad at the 2022 Qatar World Cup that White walked out on for ‘personal reasons’.
Ben White celebrated Arsenal’s winner against Tottenham in James Maddison’s face
Mikel Arteta praised his side’s ‘ugly’ performance and ‘thick skin’ as they lacked several stars
Only after taunting Maddison did he rush over to join the huddle at the corner flag as Gabriel and his co-stars exulted in front of the away fans.
White’s celebration has divided fan opinion with some hailing his passion while others found it classless.
‘Ben White celebrating in Maddison’s face. Love it,’ wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.
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‘It’s a derby ffs, this is exactly what should be happening,’ another said. ‘None of this cuddling and hugging opposition managers and players nonsense. As a fan in a derby we want players to give everything and be as passionate as us.’
‘We love his shameless acts,’ one wrote.
Not everyone appreciated the act, with one saying: ‘Classy – NOT and no I am not a Spurs fan. Remind me again what you’ve won in the last couple of years?’
A gritty win for Arsenal with several players missing saw them go second in the Premier League with 10 points out of four games, two behind Manchester City.
The Gunners were up against it for long stretches of the game but defended resolutely to keep their third clean sheet of the campaign.
Arsenal have won six consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since 2013
Arsenal fans loved White’s behaviour but other viewers found it lacking in decorum
It was a third consecutive win on Tottenham’s turf and a sixth straight away victory in the Premier League – something they last achieved in 2013.
Their set piece coach Nicolas Jover has been earning plenty of plaudits and they have now scored 24 goals from dead ball situations since the start of last season, the most of any team.
Arteta had to deal with tricky circumstances as Declan Rice was suspended while Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mikel Merino, and Takehiro Tomiyasu were all ruled out
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‘It’s a big week coming up and that’s going to give us a lot of motivation, energy and belief,’ Arteta said after the game.
‘The people that we have, we have people that are hard and have thick skin. They love the game and we love winning.
‘In order to love the game and win you have to do things that people call ugly.
‘Enjoying those ugly things is a big compliment to this team right now. When you’re able to do that normally you get a good gift.
‘The players adapted. Loving the game means that you’re able to do things regardless of the context.
‘All of them, that’s the spirit and the characters that we have that I love.’
As for Spurs, they are languishing in the bottom half after picking up four points from as many games.
