Arsenal fans left with ‘goosebumps’ at ‘class’ gesture from Alexandre Lacazette as Arsenal captain takes a knee in the face of a standing Slavia Prague squad – and some supporters felt the game was ‘over after this’
- Slavia Prague’s players stood while Arsenal’s squad took a knee before kick-off
- Alexandre Lacazette spearheaded Gunners’ gesture as he stared out his rivals
- Fans were quick to praise the striker with the image giving them ‘goosebumps’
Arsenal fans reacted in unison and were said to be left with ‘goosebumps’ as Alexandre Lacazette stared down Slavia Prague’s players as the Gunners took a knee before kick-off.
The two sides met in the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night and before kick-off Arsenal, as has become customary, all took a knee as a gesture to raise awareness in combating racism.
Slavia Prague, who saw one of their players given a 10-match ban by UEFA this week for ‘racist behaviour’ towards Rangers‘ Glen Kamara in the previous round, stood while Arsenal dropped to one knee.
The image was described as ‘more powerful than 1,000 words’ by Arsenal fans who hailed the leadership shown by Lacazette.
‘We had already won by this point,’ one fan tweeted.
‘What a picture. Well played captain,’ another supporter wrote.
Many fans pointed that the game was ‘over’ at this point before Mikel Arteta’s side raced into a 3-0 lead – in which Lacazette scored the second from the penalty spot – on the night inside 30 minutes.
The Frenchman got his second and Arsenal’s fourth midway through the second half to further demolish the Czech hosts.
‘Goosebumps Lacazette,’ one fan wrote, accompanying the tweet with two fire emojis.
‘Love the way he’s right in front of them like that,’ another added.
Slavia Prague’s Ondrej Kudela was accused by Kamara of calling him a ‘f***ing monkey’ in ugly scenes that marred Rangers’ Europa League tie last month.
UEFA determined on Wednesday that Kudela should be suspended for 10 games and so he played no part against Arsenal in the quarter-final second-leg.
The reaction to Kudela’s ban has been agenda-setting with the office of the Czech Republic president incredibly accusing UEFA of ‘discriminating against non-black people’ in their verdict.
In a letter addressed to UEFA’s disciplinary board, the office of Milos Zeman defended Kudela, who has firmly denied the allegations levelled against him, saying the accusations against the centre back are ‘unproven’.
Zeman’s office sent a 542-word letter to European football’s governing body stating that they have given an ‘unprecedented punishment for a player who did not harm anyone and only verbally’ without a ‘single piece of evidence’.
Ondrej Kudela (right) was on Wednesday handed a 10-game ban by UEFA for his ‘racist behaviour’ towards Rangers’ Glen Kamara (left) during their Europa League tie last month
The office of the Czech president Milos Zeman (pictured) has piled in on the Kudela racism row
In a letter addressed to UEFA’s disciplinary board, the office of Zeman defended Kudela
The letter went on to state that UEFA are making it ‘impossible for athletes to fulfil their dream in the Europa League, all to fulfil the perverted expectations of a small group of activists’.
UEFA have also been accused of ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘positive discrimination’ in their fight against racism by Zeman’s office.
The strong-worded statement also claimed that the decision to ban Kudela has ‘united ancient rivals’ in Czech football while the ‘Czech public does not identify with your verdict, across the whole society’.
The staggering response comes less than a day after UEFA dished out the bans.
Kudela insists he told Kamara he was ‘a f***ing guy’ as he whispered something into player’s ear during the Czech side’s 2-0 win.
