Nigel de Jong hits back at Richard Keys over Arsenal celebration criticism

Former Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong hit back at Richard Keys after he doubled down on his criticism of Arsenal’s players and Mikel Arteta for their celebrations after beating Fulham on Saturday.

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Arsenal came from behind to secure a late 2-1 victory over Fulham, which extended their unbeaten start to the new Premier League season.

Arteta’s side have won their opening four fixtures, representing their best start to a Premier League campaign since 2004, but Keys was unhappy with the jubilant scenes at the Emirates Stadium following the narrow victory over Fulham.

But De Jong, who won the Premier League title with Manchester City in 2012, believes Keys is overlooking the context of Arsenal’s latest win and the resilience the team showed after going a goal down.

‘To put into context, I understand Arsenal’s fans celebrating in the matter that they did,’ Keys said on beIN Sports.

‘I felt that the coach and his players over-celebrated a 2-1 win against Fulham.

‘I think this sort of reaction to what happened yesterday from Arteta & Co. tells me how far they’ve fallen.

‘Arsene Wenger would have been howled out of the arena if his team scraped a 2-1 win, with, in effect, an own goal that was way off target until it took a deflection and a present from Jay [sic] Leno.’

Andy Gray then interjected: ‘Yeah, I know what you’re saying, yes, perhaps they did overdo it, the players and the staff a little bit. And I agree with you in that respect.

‘But they’ve had so little to cheer and look forward to, remember 12 months ago they’d just lost three games in a row.’

Keys then replied: ‘Yeah, but whose fault is that, Andy?

‘They hounded Wenger out, they didn’t give Unai Emery enough time to complete the