Southampton winger Theo Walcott insists he never considered not celebrating if he was to score on the Saints' visit to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal on Wednesday evening.
With just 18 minutes on the clock, the former Gunners man fired Ralph Hassenhuttl's side into the lead, latching onto Che Adams' through ball and delicately chipping the ball over Gunners goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Whilst an awful lot of players refuse to celebrate when up against their former club, Walcott wheeled away in delight, grinning from ear to ear, and spiriting back towards his team-mates with his arms spread out wide.
His decision to celebrate surprised a few Arsenal fans, with some suggesting that they were surprised to see the Saints winger, who is currently on loan at St Mary's from Everton, celebrate, with some going as far as saying he was showing a lack of respect against his former employers.
Following the full time whistle, Walcott explained why he made the decision to celebrate, almost bemused by the interviewer's question asking why he did celebrate.
"Yes, I did," Walcott told Amazon Prime Video when sarcastically told that he celebrated. "I always feel like scoring a goal, no matter who you play for, is one of the best feelings and I did score many goals here [the Emirates Stadium], but I am in a Southampton shirt right now and, for me, playing for Southampton is a massive thing for me personally.
"You know, why not? Why wouldn't I celebrate?"
Despite scoring on his return to his former stomping ground, his first half strike was not enough to secure all three points for the South Coast club, with an early second half goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang securing a vital point for Mikel Arteta's side.
In the past, with respect, a point away from home at the Emirates Stadium would have been seen as a superb result for the Saints, but Walcott felt it was two points dropped rather than one gained.
He added: "Credit to them, they got the result tonight. But it just shows how far we have come that we are very disappointed not to be coming away from Arsenal with three points, I feel.
"It is very different. They are in a transition phase and there are a lot of new players here as well.
"But we were going into this game with so much confidence and, to some extent, some arrogance as well.
"I feel we can do that now. It has changed here but they have got the right man [Arteta] for the job."
