Cristiano Ronaldo has helped Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly to see the double standards after latest celebration controversy

Cristiano Ronaldo has shown how the world should have reacted to Arsenal's Myles Lewis- Skelly When Myles Lewis-Skelly scored against Manchester City in one of the season’s most magical moments, the attention fell very much on the youngster’s reaction to his goal. Peeling away from his strike, running down toward the northwest corner of the Emirates Stadium, he sat on the ground and mimicked Erling Haaland’s celebration. The reason behind this was born many months prior when during the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season, Lewis- Skelly had a confrontation with the Norwegian striker. Many alleged that camera footage had shown Haaland saying, “Who are you?” to the 18-year-old – perhaps with some added expletives. This was perhaps therefore what sparked the celebration. Mikel Arteta did not seem too keen on the decision by his player, hinting in the post-match press conference that it did not fall within his expectations.

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen that and there’s nothing that I want to discuss about that,” he said. “Down to the players, but they know my view on it and we have to focus on us. “We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens. It’s part of the game on the pitch. Whatever happens there, I think we’ve been in football a long time, just leave it, there’s nothing there to do.” Yet the fallout from the match was filled with criticism from fans and media alike. Jason Cundy of talkSPORT went as far as to suggest that the youngster needed to be careful and made reference the injury suffered by Erling Haaland’s father at the hands of Roy Keane.

"You wait. You know, we saw what Roy Keane did to Haaland's dad. You know, just be careful what battles you pick,” Cundy said. This was just one example of a much broader criticism of Lewis-Skelly. In the wake of the celebration, reports emerged that even the authorities were considering monitoring these post-goal antics and potentially clamping down on them.

Over the last week, the international break has taken the attention away from the domestic drama. However, those reading may not be aware that we witnessed yet another celebration copying – it included… probably the most famous footballer to have ever lived. Cristiano Ronaldo watched on as Denmark’s Rasmus Hojlund decided to copy his ‘Sui’ celebration after he scored in a 1-0 win in the quarter-finals of the Nations League. Ronaldo was asked about the action ahead of the return leg but played it down, saying for him it was not a sign of disrespect. " to the user icon in the top right.

For me, it is not a problem," he said. "This is not because he don't have respect for me. “I'm smart enough to understand that not only him, but around the world, other sportspeople do it, my celebration. For me, it's an honour. But I hope that tomorrow you can see my celebration, not [that] I still see his celebration." Portugal would win the second leg 5-2 with Ronaldo scoring an important second goal for the home side on the night before his teammates managed to score twice in extra time. Any notable mention of the Premier League striker copying Ronaldo’s celebration have withered away almost immediately. Yet, as Lewis-Skelly was pictured entering the England senior set up, a swathe of critical online comments came the way of the Arsenal defender. Lewis-Skelly would go on to make his debut and score in his first opportunity, kicking off Thomas Tuchel’s reign as England head coach. It would be naïve of me not to mention that there is a clear systemic racial issue when it comes to the scrutiny surrounding Lewis- Skelly. We witnessed the backlash following Bukayo Saka’s penalty miss for England in the European Championship final.

Having Saka, and of course Raheem Sterling, with Lewis-Skelly at Arsenal will be of great benefit to help him through any difficulties having themselves become far too familiar with them . But from my own personal interactions with Myles, those around him and his coaches, he could not be set up better to deal with the challenges that he and others should never have to face, but sadly the reality means he will. You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating Please kindly drop your comment below.