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08th May 2017

Danny Welbeck’s reasoning for celebrating his goal against Man United was perfect

Hard to argue with that

Ben Kiely

You can’t do anything these days without people giving out.

Normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill stuff gets certain people’s blood boiling.

Saying, ‘bless you’ in response to a sneeze can result in an extended lecture on why you shouldn’t go around shoving your beliefs down everyone’s throat… just trying to exorcise that pesky flu devil that’s living in your lungs, honey.

Making a ‘Happy Anniversary’ gag at your better half on a lazy date to McDonalds sometimes ends with a quiet car ride home and a frantic online shopping shopping spree after the revelation that it actually was some sort of stupid relationship milestone. Two months? That’s not even remotely a thing!

Another thing that rouses the rabble are footballers celebrating goals. Some hate it when they do it, others hate it when they don’t, but the truth is if you were in their shoes, you’d be wearing way more expensive shoes.

And you would fucking celebrate!

A dream of many youngsters is to grow up and become a professional footballer. However, the success rate of people who actually achieve this goal is tiny.

Think of those lads you see kicking lumps out of each other at your weekly astro game to get a break from the stasis of the 9-5 office job. Don’t you think they would prefer playing for a Premier League team to earn a far fancier crust? Even if it was the arch rivals of their boyhood club?

That lavish lifestyle of a Premier League footballer can disappear in an instant. With one poorly-timed, reckless challenge or one manager who takes a dislike to you and refuses to play you, the dream could be over. So, you have to appreciate the good times, which means you have to enjoy scoring a goal at any level, even if it is against your former club.

That’s exactly why Danny Welbeck celebrated making it 2-0 to Arsenal against Manchester United on Sunday. It’s his job to score goals and he was only delighted that he did it well.

“I grew up there and everything so it’s a special place in my life, but once we get on that pitch, it’s business. When you score you’ve got to be happy, haven’t you?”

You really have to be.