No title for Arsenal, but Welbeck goal is most ‘tweeted’

Matthew Briggs

Danny Welbeck’s last-minute winner for Arsenal against Leicester in February was the most talked about moment of the Premier League title race on Twitter.

The goal, which gave Arsenal a 2-1 victory and appeared a crucial result at the time before the Gunners’ customary late slump ensued, attracted 51,000 tweets per minute.

Leicester’s fairytale season has captured the imagination of sports fans around the world and 33,000 tweets a minute were sent when Jamie Vardy broke the Premier League record in November by scoring in an 11th consecutive game.

The Foxes, who can clinch the title with victory over Manchester United on Sunday, have produced stunning results all season and the third most tweeted about moment came when Robert Huth put them 3-0 up at Manchester City in February.

Tottenham’s dogged pursuit looks set to end in failure but for Spurs there will be the considerable consolation of Champions League football next season.

They are also poised to finish ahead of rivals Arsenal, and 28,000 tweets per minute were sent when Harry Kane put Tottenham 2-1 ahead against the Gunners in March in a game which eventually ended 2-2.

The north London derby features four times on Twitter’s list of the 15 most popular moments of the battle between Leicester and Spurs.

Welbeck

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey in that game are numbers eight and nine, while a rare goal from Kieran Gibbs to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw in November attracted 20,000 tweets per minute, making it the 11th most-talked-about moment.

But 10 of the 15 moments came during Leicester games, with the Foxes’ exploits continually getting football fans talking.

Vardy was the most talked about player, featuring in four of the top 15 moments, while Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez made the list twice with goals against Manchester City and Chelsea.