Serge Gnabry's reason for celebration after scoring against former club Arsenal

Serge Gnabry did not hesitate when it came to celebrating his equaliser for Bayern Munich against Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday night, despite his association with the Gunners

Serge Gnabry did not hesitate when it came to celebrating his equaliser for Bayern Munich against his former club Arsenal on Tuesday night.

Gnabry fired in on the stretch to make it 1-1 in the 18th minute after Bukayo Saka had put Arsenal ahead with a curling finish into the bottom corner. The Germany forward took his chance well, getting in front of Ben White to beat David Raya.

The 28-year-old spent five years at Arsenal at the start of his professional career and, although it didn’t work out for him at the north London club, he retains a link with the Gunners. That didn’t stop Gnabry from using his regular celebration: holding up one hand flat, with the other pinched above it.

Gnabry has explained the origins of the celebration before: NBA star James Harden. "There's a video on YouTube where he's cooking after dropping, I think, a buzzer-beater and won the game," Gnabry explained to fcbayern.tv. "So he was cooking, stirring it up, and that's the celebration.

"I think you can relate the celebration to him having a buzzer-beater or winning the game to us, as in football we don’t score as many points as they do in basketball. So I think there's a resemblance and he's a very good offensive player, I'm an offensive player so, I think so too.”

There was soon even more to celebrate for Bayern, with Leroy Sane’s brilliant run sparking chaos in the Arsenal defensive line. He got past Gabriel Magalhaes and was brought down by William Saliba, allowing Harry Kane to put Bayern 2-1 up from the penalty spot in the 32nd minute.

Gnabry only made 18 appearances for Arsenal’s first team, but having joined the academy from Stuttgart in 2011, his association with the club is quite deep. That fact was highlighted in a 2019 interview with Pro Direct in which he declared: "Always a Gunner."

Speaking about his exit to Werder Bremen in 2016, the winger added: "It was the hardest decision but I think it worked out well because I wanted to play. But as a club, Arsenal are top, top." And speaking to CBS Sports in 2020, Gnabry reaffirmed his feelings, naming Arsenal as "the favourite" if he were to return to the Premier League one day.

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