‘It was like they won the league!’ – Ashley Young takes swipe at Arsenal’s celebrations

Aston Villa defender Ashley Young has taken a swipe at Arsenal’s celebrations after their 1-0 victory on Saturday and claims the home team were the only side that looked like scoring in the second half.

The Gunners cemented their hopes of securing a top-four finish and Champions League football next season thanks to Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal, with Villa only mustering their first effort on target in the match in the 94th minute.

That save from stand-in goalkeeper Bernd Leno prompted wild scenes of celebration from Arsenal’s players when the full-time whistle was blown seconds later.

The players then stayed out on the pitch at Villa Park for some time afterwards, saluting the away end, singing along with chants and handing over shirts to supporters.

But Young has become the latest opposition player to claim Arsenal’s celebrations went a little over the top – with Wolves’ Ruben Neves also digging out the Gunners last month – and feels it shows how much they had to toil in Saturday’s game.

‘We want to make this a tough place to come and I think it is a tough place,’ he told VillaTV afterwards.

‘You saw the way they celebrated, to be honest it was like they won the league. But it shows they found it tough.

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‘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 also felt Arsenal were a little fortunate to leave