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Arsenal players celebrated their superb 3-0 victory over Fulham on Sunday (March 12) with a giant clock. Goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard kept the Gunners' sights firmly on winning the Premier League title for the first time since 2004.
Mikel Arteta's side are five points clear of second-placed Manchester City at the top of the league. However, fans were trying to read between the lines as to why they celebrated the win at Craven Cottage with a clock.
Arsenal's clock hands were pointed at 11 and 2 in a picture uploaded by Oleksandr Zinchenko to his Instagram account. Fans have assumed that the Gunners were speaking in code and alluding to:
"11 games 2 go."
There are just 11 games to go before Arteta's men can lift the league title and bring 19 years of pain to an end. One fan thinks the Spanish coach has been using the clock as a message for his players:
“Arteta defo showed this clock to the team during the prematch team talk.”
Another was intrigued by the celebrations with the clock:
"This is mad cryptic.”
Time is certainly on Arsenal's side and they are on a collision course with Manchester City. The two sides will meet in a top-of-the-table clash on April 26 at the Etihad that could have massive title implications.
Before that, Arteta's men will face Crystal Palace on March 19, Leeds United on April 1, Liverpool on April 9, West Ham United on April 14, and Southampton on April 21.
However, they will turn their attention to the Europa League last 16 this week as they face Sporting CP in the second leg at the Emirates on Thursday (March 16). The two sides are level at 2-2 on aggregate heading into that clash.
Arteta hails January signing Leandro Trossard following Arsenal's win over Fulham
Trossard was superb in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Fulham, collecting a hat-trick of assists during the victory at Craven Cottage.
The Belgian joined the Gunners from Brighton & Hove Albion in January for £27 million. He has quickly become a key player for Arteta's side.
The Gunners boss was quick to praise Trossard for his performance against Fulham. He told reporters (via GOAL):
"He got three assists and could have scored two. I think he was really impressive."
Arteta also revealed that Trossard suffered a slight knock days before the game but made an impressive recovery:
"Not only that, he had an injury three days ago which could have taken a week, or another 10 days, but he was really willing to come back early and the doctors and medical staff did a lot of good work."
Trossard has scored one goal and contributed five assists in 10 games across competitions for Arsenal. He is proving to be excellent competition for Gabriel Martinelli.
