Jadon Sancho aimed what appeared to be a thinly veiled dig at his former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag after netting his second goal in as many games for Chelsea at the weekend.
The Englishman, who is currently on-loan at Chelsea from United, scored the Blues' first goal as they came from behind to beat rivals Tottenham 4-3 at the London Stadium on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Sancho had scored his first-ever Chelsea goal in a thumping 5-1 win over Southampton.
Speaking after the win over Spurs, Sancho said: "The staff and the players have been telling me to be a bit more selfish in front of goal and shoot when I get in those positions. I’ve been working on that, so I’m delighted."
He then appeared to take aim at Ten Hag, with whom he endured a difficult relationship during his time at Old Trafford.
Sancho was ostracised by Ten Hag following a high-profile spat which saw Sancho accuse the Dutch coach of making him a "scapegoat" for the club's poor results after he had dropped him and accused him of not training properly.
Ten Hag, who was sacked by United last month, also went public with Sancho's mental health struggles without permission after advising him to train away from the club's first-team in the Netherlands.
"I know I have a lot of people to prove wrong and I’m working hard every day in training," Sancho said on Sunday. "Once I get my opportunity I just try to show what I can do, so I’m happy that I scored and we got the three points for the team. I’m just taking it game-by-game and hopefully I can continue this form."
"I'm thankful that I’m here, grateful to the players and the staff for making me feel welcome, believing in me and giving me the opportunity to play," added the winger, who will join Chelsea permanently at the end of the season.
Sancho destroys North London
Ten Hag wasn't the only one on the end of what appeared to be a dig from Sancho on Sunday.
Arsenal were, too.
After Enzo Fernandez had scored Chelsea's third to put them in the lead for the first time against Tottenham, Sancho picked up a corner flag that had been displaced by Cole Palmer in the celebrations and threw it to the ground.
Some saw Sancho's actions as a subtle dig at the Gunners and their perceived reliance on scoring from corners this season and last. Mike Arteta's side, who are currently two points behind the Blues in the Premier League table, have scored 23 goals from corners since the start of last season, which is more than any other team across Europe's big five leagues. One of those goals was against Tottenham in a 1-0 win back in September.
"Sancho telling Arsenal, 'We do not need corners,'" wrote one fan on X, alongside a video of Sancho throwing down Tottenham's corner flag.
Another wrote: "Still can’t believe Sancho and Palmer dismantled Spurs’ corner flag signalling [to] Arsenal that we don’t need corners to score. Destroyed North London."
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