ARSENAL fans lost their minds as Nicolas Pepe found the back of the net on his return to the Emirates.
The Gunners’ former record signing opened the scoring in their pre-season friendly defeat to Villarreal at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
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Pepe, who was bizarrely booed by sections of the Emirates faithful, opted not to rub his goal in the noses of the north Londoners.
He refused to celebrate his strike against his former employers, which sent scores of Gunners fans into meltdown.
One wrote on X: “This is hell on earth.”
Another said of the massive Arsenal flop: “Nicolas Pepe coming back to haunt us, it’s looking rough, boys.”
And another said: “We let Nicolas Pepe score a goal at the Emirates. Such a funny club.”
One remarked: “Nicolas Pepe scores at the Emirates. Villarreal 1 nil up.
“Yes, you read that correctly. It’s 2025.”
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Footie fans were left stunned by Pepe’s decision not to celebrate his goal.
One wrote on X: “Why is Nicolas Pepe not celebrating a pre-season goal vs Arsenal? Woke nonsense.”
Another said: “Nicolas Pepe scoring and not celebrating in a friendly match hahahaahahah.”
And another said: “Nicolas Pepe Scores Against Arsenal and doesn’t celebrate.
“After all that he went through, he really still loves this Club.”
Ivory Coast international Pepe joined Arsenal in the summer of 2019 from Lille for a then-club-record fee of £72MILLION.
Incredibly he cost more than the £64m they’ve just splashed on Gyokeres.
But he failed to justify his price tag and was loaned out to Nice for the 2022/23 season before having his contract terminated a year early in September 2023.
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He had a brief stint with Trabzonspor before joining Villarreal on a free transfer last summer.
Villarreal raced into a 2-0 lead in the 33rd minute thanks to a strike from Karl Etta Eyong.
Gunners newboy Christian Nogaard reduced the deficit three minutes later.
Things didn’t improve much for Arsenal in the second half with Arnut Danjuma adding a third for Villarreal midway through the second period.
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Captain Martin Odegaard scored from the spot to make it 3-2 – which is how the match ended.
New striker Viktor Gyokeres struggled to make any sort of impact in his home debut.
