Ashley Young has slammed Arsenal players for celebrating "like they won the league" after they secured a narrow victory over Aston Villa on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners won 1-0 at Villa Park thanks to Bukayo Saka 's snapshot in the first half to cement their place in the top four of the Premier League table. Clear-cut chances were few and far between throughout a cagey affair with Arsenal managing three shots on target and their hosts registering just one.
While Young admitted Villa's lack of attacking threat was "disappointing" in a blunt post-match assessment, he took issue with the boisterous nature of the visitors' celebrations. Mikel Arteta and his players were toasted with a Champions League-related chant from a joyous away end as they paid tribute to the travelling fans after the match.
Villa defender Young was less then impressed by these scenes but saw the celebrations as a reflection of how tough Arsenal found the match. "We want to make this a tough place to come and I think it is a tough place," the former Manchester United wideman told VillaTV after the full-time whistle.
"You saw the way they celebrated, to be honest it was like they won the league. But it shows they found it tough. We want to be in those European places, we want to get the club back there, and everyone's got that ambition to get the club back there. So, we want to make it a tough place to come but we want to be winning games as well."
Young's criticism of Arsenal's celebrations echos that of Ruben Neves after the Gunners defeated Wolves 1-0 in February. "We saw the way they celebrated the win and that shows the level we are," the Portuguese midfielder said. "I didn't see Arsenal celebrating like this in the past 10 years - it was like they won the league."
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Neves' comments prompted an amusing reaction from Highbury legend Ian Wright, who posted a picture on Instagram with the caption: "Still celebrating."
Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard shared Young's frustrations about Villa's performance in a heated interview with BT Sport's Des Kelly. "It was a tough first half because we allowed it to be tough," the manager said.
"I think we were indecisive in the things we tried to do. I think our performance lacked belief. It wasn't until after half-time that we showed we can be better."
