Arsenal mascot: Tunnel footage before 2-2 draw v West Ham emerges | OneFootball

Arsenal Football Club were at the centre of a minor controversy on Tuesday.

Late Monday evening, the team's Twitter admin uploaded footage of the players signing a shirt for a young female mascot before the 2-2 draw at West Ham United.

The video clip, accompanied by a caption which read "making memories with our mascot", spread like wildfire on the social media platform - and for all the wrong reasons.

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Arsenal players have been slammed for the fact they didn't appear to give any real acknowledgment to the mascot.

But has the whole thing been blow completely out of proportion?

That may very well be the case.

How come? Well, footage has now emerged of some members of the Arsenal squad interacting wholesomely with a crowd of mascots just before kick-off at the London Stadium.

Check out the short video clip in question below...

They're certainly not the actions of a group of arrogant, entitled athletes, are they?

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard can even be seen deep in conversation with the mascot from the aforementioned video posted by the club.

Of course, the Gunners' social media team are partly to blame for the unnecessary uproar, as they should have foreseen how easily the footage can be taken out of context.

But the debacle also supporters a theory from Micah Richards that people tend to react more negatively when Arsenal are involved.

Back in January of 2022, the Sky Sports regular said: “I just feel like when it’s Arsenal, everyone wants to lump in for some reason.”

Maybe Micah was right all along...

What's next for Arsenal in their Premier League title charge?

Mikel Arteta's side host Southampton on Friday evening, a game they simply have to win after dropping four points in their last two outings.

The Gunners also surrendered two-goal leads against both Liverpool and West Ham, which isn't exactly ideal at the business end of a season.

But Southampton are the perfect opponent for Arsenal to get things back on track ahead of their daunting trip to Manchester City next Wednesday.

The Saints are rock-bottom of the Premier League, having most recently lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace.