Manchester City fan Tal Rehman insists he had no idea he would become a viral sensation after his Arsenal taunting antics were captured during Sunday’s win over Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola’s side laid down an ominous marker at Stamford Bridge ahead of next weekend’s summit meeting, scoring three second half goals in quick succession to close the gap on the long-time leaders.
With Mikel Arteta’s side showing the unmistakable signs of bottling a nine-point advantage, City are again sensing blood and will feel confident of landing a terminal blows to the Gunners’ hopes on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium.
Indeed, the growing confidence among players and fans alike was encapsulated by the performative celebrations of Rehman who produced a bottle, emblazoned with the Arsenal crest, shortly after Jeremy Doku had put the game to bed in the 68th minute, and pretended to drink enthusiastically from the empty container with the Sky Spots cameras firmly trained on him.
Suspicious Arsenal fans questioned how the City super fan was able to bring a bottle into the away end undetected, but Rehman had an explanation.
‘This time last year when we played Arsenal at the Etihad we sit close to the Arsenal bench and we asked for a drink because it was something we needed and obviously they passed us these bottles and I never thought of it,’ he said.
‘We bought the bottles home and just because I like being a prankster or a joker or whatever because that’s what I am really, I’m not serious about anything in life.’
Rehman’s timeline of events doesn’t quite stack up, however, given Arsenal haven’t played a game at the Etihad since September 2024, while the bottle in question looked in remarkably good condition for one that has supposedly been in his possession for 18 months.
Nevertheless, Rehman maintains he mean no ill-will towards rival Arsenal supporters and, to borrow Richard Keys’ time old excuse,it was all just a bit of light-hearted banter.
He continued: ‘So the bottle, I thought I’ll take it to London. If we see anybody at Euston or any of the Gooners in north London, I’ll just show it to them. ‘Have you got your bottle, son?’
‘The next thing is I’m at the stadium and then I realise I had it in the bag. And when we went 3-0 up I thought showtime baby.
‘So out comes the bottle and there I am. Unknown to me it’s just banter, people must understand that I’m not a tribal fan, I’m a football fan.
‘I respect the game, I respect the fans, respect the rules, everything.
‘So me and my son, I’ll just hold the bottle to my gob pretending to drink it. Next thing people are tapping me on the shoulder and saying I’ve gone viral, and I’m a meme.
‘I was in shock. After that I can’t tell you my phone was like ping, ping.’
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