Arsenal fans enjoyed seeing Sead Kolasinac standing up for his teammates again on Saturday, with Burnley’s Jack Cork left with no choice but to give him a hug.
In a fiery encounter against Sean Dyche’s side, the biggest flashpoint was a brawl that broke out after a wrestling match between Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ashley Barnes. Jack Cork, in particular, immediately started trying to convince the referee to show a card to Sokratis, which the Arsenal players didn’t take kindly to.
Sead Kolasinac decided to back up his fellow defenders by giving Cork a bit of a shove. Although the English midfielder spun around as if to continue the fight, he then quickly turned his retaliation into a hug when he saw who he was up against. Arsenal fans certainly enjoyed the confrontation:
https://twitter.com/IMF_X/status/1076467357470605312?s=19
— Nol (@Nolpanduri) December 22, 2018
Not the first time a player has backed down when they realised that it’s Sead.
— Laura AFC Dale 🏴 (@LauraDale11) December 22, 2018
Harry Winks now Jack Cork, English midfielders shit themselves seeing the Bosnian
— Zayd 🦋 (@TenazTorreira) December 23, 2018
Jack cork is wise😂,id do the same
— BROKEBOY EB (@BahatiEmeka) December 23, 2018
Little @MatteoGuendouzi giving him a telling off as well 👉🏼
— afcRob (@afcROB9) December 23, 2018
Don’t Mess with the Kola.
— Bharath (@betraingooner) December 23, 2018
You never want your players to lose their heads in a physical match like this, but they also have to be able to stand up for themselves. The Burnley players will crowd the referee and appeal every decision, so if Arsenal don’t at least do the same the officials only ever hear one side of the argument.
Fortunately, the likes of Kolasinac weren’t going to let that happen, and the Gunners came away with the three points.