With one glancing header, Danny Welbeck might just have delivered a season-defining moment with his stoppage time winner against Leicester.
Returning from injury to give Arsenal’s title challenge the shot in the arm it needed, this was arguably his most significant goal for the club, and his decision to celebrate it by leaping into the Emirates crowd seemed to further endear him to the club’s supporters.
https://twitter.com/AFC_unningham/status/698873716734828544
While Gooners on Twitter excitedly demanded that Welbeck fathered their children or contemplated legally changing their name to that of their hero of the hour, the reaction to the goal prompted a different response from the supporters of of his former club, Manchester United.
There was some sadness. There was a bit of regret. But there was very little in the way of resentment. In actual fact, there was plenty of United supporters that went as far as expressing how pleased they were for Welbeck.
Love Danny Welbeck, and so happy for him. Was a sad day when we sold him. #mufc #afc
— Tudur 'Tate' Jones (@TateJones10) February 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/KyleHall1996/status/698953838829633536
Given the unforgiving nature of football fans, you’d be pardoned for expecting a case such as Danny Welbeck’s to bring about a different reaction from those faithful to his old team.
On the surface of things, here was a lad that, having learned his craft at United and graduated from its academy, opted to jump ship at the end of the disastrous David Moyes season and join a rival club – not a rival in the same way that Liverpool and Manchester City, but still…
Added to that, on his first return to his old stomping ground, he landed the knock-out blow to United by scoring the winner in last season’s FA Cup quarter final, following it by wild celebrations.
Yet still, for many of those that watched him rise through the ranks at United, Danny Welbeck is beyond hate. Even after his FA Cup goal, the majority of those inside Old Trafford that night applauded him warmly as he was substituted.
Make no mistake about it, Welbeck fluffed his lines on more than enough occasions to show that he wouldn’t be quite as prolific in front of goals as some of his youth appearances might have suggested – the time he tried to chip Manuel Neuer being one particularly memorable example if this.
Remember when Danny Welbeck Chipped Neuer!! Nah, me neither! https://t.co/snEjhDfpNP #SoBait
— SeniorMan (@BolaAnt) December 1, 2014
After stories surfaced that Welbeck wanted to leave Old Trafford at the end of the 2013/14 season, a newly-appointed Louis van Gaal decided that such a scoring record meant that he was only good enough for the United bench. Welbeck headed towards the Old Trafford exit.
A terrible season under Moyes had seen United’s board wake up to the fact that the squad needed to add some star quality to its ranks. They addressed this by splashing out on Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao. But for all the excitement that such marquee signings might have generated – allowing the departure of one of the club’s most notable academy graduates of recent years was an unpopular one.
Regardless of how questionable his finishing was from time to time, for United fans – especially those from the Manchester area – Longsight-born Welbeck was living a dream. For all of their club’s global scouting networks, here was a local lad who had grown up a United supporter, working his way into their team. Although he might not have been the finest striker the club had ever seen, he was one of their own.
The sight of Welbeck scoring a crucial goal in a title race which his former club are no longer part of will be another bitter pill to swallow for some of those that willed him to succeed in Manchester.
At least they appear happy enough to see him making a mark in London.
