When Manchester City\u2019s Jeremy Doku scored his team\u2019s third goal in a comprehensive win over Chelsea on Sunday, he raised his fingers towards the sky to thank the heavens for a crucial win in English football\u2019s Premier League. But the winger\u2019s actions paled in comparison to an emotive City fan\u2019s unique celebration, which swiftly turned into a viral social media meme.<\/p>\n
As Doku was joined by jubilant teammates near Chelsea\u2019s goal, television cameras panned to the travelling fans at Stamford Bridge, where a now-famous animated City supporter punched the air, pulled out an empty plastic bottle adorned with an Arsenal logo, and mimicked a celebratory sip.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n It left City\u2019s supporters in peals of laughter and made viewers wonder if Arsenal have \u201cbottled it\u201d once more in a clear dig at Arsenal\u2019s dramatic stumble over the past few weeks.<\/p>\n Since March 22, the Gunners have lost the English League Cup final to City, been knocked out of the Football Association (FA) Challenge Cup by Southampton, barely scraped through in the UEFA Champions League against Sporting Lisbon, and lost at home to 11th-placed Bournemouth in the Premier League.<\/p>\n As the away fans rejoiced, TV commentator Conor McNamara wondered if the bottle-toting supporter was \u201cdrinking Arsenal tears\u201d and said: \u201cManchester City [are] hoping that Arsenal might be bottling this title race.\u201d<\/p>\n The clip went viral on social media within minutes, and the fan in question was later seen watching replays in disbelief.<\/p>\n Manager Pep Guardiola\u2019s Man City have now moved within six points \u2060\u2060of leaders Arsenal \u2013 who have lost three consecutive games in local competitions \u2013 reigniting the title race.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory tells us that when the spring sun comes out, Arsenal sometimes wilt, but Manchester City so often bloom and blossom down that closing stretch,\u201d McNamara said, adding salt to Arsenal fans\u2019 wounds by exposing their familiar late-season fragility and City\u2019s relentless run-in surge.<\/p>\n The two contrasting results in London over the space of just over 24 hours brought great joy to British music icon Liam Gallagher.<\/p>\n The frontman of the rock band Oasis and lifelong City supporter chose to poke fun at Arsenal with a clip of the London club being chased, like a shadow, by their Manchester rivals.<\/p>\n In what may feel like another lifetime to Arsenal fans, the Gunners beat Everton 2-0 at home on March 14 and were still challenging for trophies on four fronts.<\/p>\n The club and its supporters soaked in the excitement of a \u201cquadruple season\u201d. However, things went south very quickly as Arsenal suffered a 2-0 League Cup final \u2060\u2060defeat by City and a shock quarterfinal exit in the FA Cup to second-tier Southampton.<\/p>\n A \u2060\u2060last-gasp 1-0 win away to Sporting in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg appeared to steady the ship, but Saturday\u2019s display against Bournemouth could turn believers into doubters.<\/p>\n The costly home defeat to Bournemouth has left Arsenal fans questioning whether the team can finally end their 22-year wait for an English title, or if they are destined to settle for a fourth successive runners-up finish.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very far from the standards that we\u2019ve shown all season, so it\u2019s a big punch in the face because we wanted to win this game so badly,\u201d Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said after their latest loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t cope with the situations when they didn\u2019t go our way.\u201d<\/p>\n The Spanish manager, who previously served as an assistant to Guardiola at City, said that his players are hurting, but they need to \u201ctake it on the chin\u201d and \u201cembrace the challenge\u201d that lies ahead.<\/p>\n At one stage this season, stats provider Opta gave Arsenal as high as a 98 percent chance of winning the 2025-26 title, but recent results have brought it down to 86.98 percent.<\/p>\n Those figures could take a drastic turn come Sunday, as the top two face off at the Etihad Stadium in a potential title decider.<\/p>\n Their fate is now as much in Manchester City\u2019s hands as it is in their own.<\/p>\n When City host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium, they have a spring in their step, knowing a victory could swing the momentum from the south of England to its north as a gripping title race approaches its finish line.<\/p>\n After suffering only three defeats in their opening 49 matches of the season in all competitions, Arsenal have lost three of their past four, ramping up the pressure on the visitors.<\/p>\n However, Guardiola \u2013 who has guided City to six of their 10 league titles \u2013 remains alert to the threat posed by Arsenal despite their recent blip.<\/p>\n \u201cThe respect I have for Arsenal, what they have done the last few years,\u201d he said after City\u2019s win over Chelsea.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the manager, the players, the quality, how they compete in every circumstance, that\u2019s the biggest job we have. There is a tactical issue; maybe we will adjust something,\u201d Guardiola said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been the best team in this country, in Europe, so far. Beating Arsenal once is so difficult; imagine beating them twice in a few weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to say to my fans: respect Arsenal a lot, they are an extraordinary team. Come to join us from minute one because the players will do the maximum.\u201d<\/p>\n Guardiola\u2019s call for cool heads hasn\u2019t done much to drown out talks of a \u201cdomestic treble\u201d for the Sky Blues.<\/p>\n With one trophy \u2013 the League Cup \u2013 in the bag, City are favourites to lift the FA Cup and could still bag their 11th league trophy.<\/p>\n As Arteta\u2019s Arsenal look to end their Premier League trophy drought, experts believe the players and manager face a test of their mental and emotional strength in the decisive stretch of the campaign.<\/p>\n Former player and TV pundit Gary Neville believes the Gunners must \u201cbalance emotion\u201d as they look to cross the line.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know the build-up to the game next week, what the narrative is going to be against Arsenal \u2013 that Man City are going to catch you, and there seems to be a sense of joy watching Arsenal collapse,\u201d the former Man United captain said on Neville\u2019s podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve got to try and swim against the tide and hold their nerve.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When Manchester City\u2019s Jeremy Doku scored his team\u2019s third goal in a comprehensive win over Chelsea on Sunday, he raised his fingers towards the sky to thank the heavens for a crucial win in English football\u2019s Premier League. But the winger\u2019s actions paled in comparison to an emotive City fan\u2019s unique celebration, which swiftly turned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018Punch in the face\u2019 as quadruple hopes take a hit<\/h2>\n
![\"Arsenal's](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AFP__20260404__A6RT2H2__v2__HighRes__FblEngFacupSouthamptonArsenal-1775637663.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
A domestic treble for Man City?<\/h2>\n
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