Arsenal‘s triumphant players were spotted partying until daylight as they basked in the glory of the club’s first Premier League title since 2004.
The Gunners’ place in history was secured on a dramatic Tuesday night of action after Man City were held to a 1-1 draw by Bournemouth.
That result meant that Mikel Arteta‘s side are four points clear of their title rivals with just one match to go, and players and fans – including club legend Ian Wright – made sure to make the most of their achievement after it was confirmed.
The squad had watched City’s game at their London Colney training ground and footage circulated of them celebrating shortly after full-time.
From there, the players appeared to go elsewhere for a private party as one photo on Eberechi Eze‘s Instagram showed captain Martin Odegaard drinking from an infamous Arsenal bottle, a form of mockery by one viral Man City fan just a few weeks ago.
That supporter was the subject of his own teasing, as Gabriel shared a photo of him drinking from the bottle and also looking rather glum at a later game, with the caption: ‘Think too much.’
Arsenal’s title-winning stars celebrated their triumph long into the night on Tuesday evening
Several stars, including Declan Rice, were spotted outside the Emirates Stadium at around 5am
Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka (above) also bumped into fans outside of the Emirates
Skipper Martin Odegaard mocked Arsenal’s critics at what appeared to be a private party
After those festivities were done, a select group of stars then headed over to the Emirates, where thousands of jubilant fans had gathered to celebrate the triumph.
Many of those had headed home by this point, but one video showed Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Eze walking around the outskirts of the stadium with the sun rising in the background.
The video was captioned: ‘I CAN’T BELIEVE I BUMPED INTO THE CHAMPIONS AT 5AM.’
In another clip, Rice, whose voice was croaking, urged several fans to come and join him for a photo before he started a chant of ‘Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal’.
Eze then posted a celebratory selfie on his Instagram story at around 5.20am where he had his finger to his lips, in a seeming dig to Arsenal’s critics over recent months.
He then shared some snaps of himself posing with Rice, Timber and Saka outside the Emirates along with one shot of the bottle.
Former Arsenal star Jorginho, who now plays for Flamengo, also posted a photo on social media of himself on Facetime with Saka and Timber, and added the caption: ‘So happy for you guys.’
That came after the thousands gathered outside the Emirates had earlier set off fireworks, red flares, waved flags and chanted.
Legendary Gunners forward Ian Wright was among those at the centre of the celebrations outside the stadium.
Wright, who appeared close to tears, was hugely emotional when asked for his thoughts by Stan Sport Football.
‘This club deserves it, our fans deserve it, all around the world, we deserve this now,’ he said.
‘People just hammer us all the time, constantly hammer us, hammer us. They hammer our manager for his gimmicks, his this, his that. Now they can’t do that no more.
‘All that noise has got to stop because everything he’s done has led to them winning the league so they can’t hammer him for his gimmicks now.
‘The fans getting hammered, “We’re bottlers, we’re this, we’re that!”, we’ve had to take that for the last three years and now this season, this team, with the squad they’ve built… people said at the start of the season that this squad was good enough to do it and they were.’
He then urged the squad to not rest on their laurels and create more history.
‘You hope (that this is the start of a successful era) because obviously the first one is the toughest one to get,’ Wright added.
‘I know there are players around the world who want to sign for Arsenal so fingers crossed we can go on a Manchester City tear, do two or three (titles).
‘I’d love us to win another couple in the next five or six years, absolutely.’
Before that, supporters had flocked to Arsenal’s pre-match pubs, including the Drayton Park Arms, the World’s End in Finsbury Park, and the Tollington just minutes away from their stadium.
Emotional Gunners fans popped champagne, hugged one another and climbed onto tables at the pubs exploded moments after their victory.
Drivers honked their horns in the capital while fans waved shirts from windows and rooftops as Arsenal ended their title drought.
Some fans even blocked traffic as they partied in the streets, with the wild celebrations continuing long into the night.
The infamous Man City ‘bottle’ fan was also mocked by Arsenal centre back Gabriel
Eze similarly posted a selfie outside the Emirates Stadium, mocking critics of the Gunners
Rice joined jubilant fans for photos and started a chant of ‘Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal’
Earlier, Arsenal’s squad had watched the Man City game at their London Colney training base
Ian Wright joined Arsenal fans celebrating outside the Emirates amid jubilant scenes
More glory could follow next week as they travel to Budapest for the Champions League final, in a bid to stop PSG from winning their second European Cup in succession.
Arsenal will pick up the Premier League trophy after Sunday’s final game away at Crystal Palace, with tickets now gold dust for their most loyal fans.
Arteta and his team have endured mockery over their ‘second again’ position as the Premier League’s bridesmaids, but that will now end with their first major trophy since the FA Cup won in his first season in charge in 2020.
The last time the club won the Premier League was in 2004, when Thierry Henry and Co went unbeaten through the entire 38-game season.
