Former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has been slammed for his live TV comments about Arsenal after they beat the Red Devils 2-0 on home soil. The 79-cap Bulgaria international labelled Mikel Arteta’s side ‘the new Stoke City’.
Ruben Amorim’s side, who were unbeaten until their trip to north London, were difficult to break down for the majority of the first half, and it took the Gunners to score both of their goals from corners to break the deadlock and then add a second.
Jurrien Timber and William Saliba were both present in the six-yard box to feed off their side’s set-piece dominance in the 54th and 73rd minute, respectively, as they ran out 2–0 victors at the Emirates. They now sit in third place in the Premier League table.
On punditry duty for Amazon Prime, Berbatov - one of the Premier League's top foreign goalscorers of all time - spoke about Arsenal’s use of corners and how they had ‘so many players’ pushing and shoving in Andre Onana’s vicinity – something that has become commonplace in England’s top flight.
“Probably the Premier League is the only league in the world where you have so many players around the goalkeeper, pushing, shoving, making chaos. Normally, it is going to be a foul.
“Not here. You need to be strong,” he stated. And that's probably why he [Ruben Amorim] was watching from the side, he was like, "What is going on with my keeper? You need to work on that. As we joke, Arsenal is the new Stoke City, right? Depending on set-pieces, which can give you the win, as it was today.”
Fans, largely of an Arsenal persuasion, took to X (formerly Twitter) to blast the former centre forward for his post-match comments with one simply stating: “Wipe your tears, Berbatov.” while another wrote: “Shut up, man.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta Related
Mikel Arteta Fires Back as Ruben Amorim Claims Arsenal Play to Win Corners
The Arsenal boss has responded to claims that Arsenal deliberately play for corners following their 2-0 triumph over Man United.
"Seeing a lot of sour ex-Man Utd babies on my timeline. How embarrassing. Be professional lads. Grow a pair.”
A fourth fan said: “Cry more.” while another claimed that Arsenal’s fanbase are relishing the fact that Manchester United supporters – and others – are growing frustrated at their set-piece supremacy: “We’ve rattled them. Each and everyone of them and I’m loving it.”