“Better than those guys in Chelsea”, “His sins are now forgiven” - Twitter explodes as Kai Havertz winner at Brentford guides Arsenal to top spot

Thanks to Kai Havertz, Arsenal have reached the summit of the Premier League standings for the first time this season after their win over Brentford.The versatile German star came off the bench to score the winner for the Gunners on what was an uncharacteristic off day for them.

Arsenal began the weekend in third place, one point behind Manchester City and level on points with Liverpool. The Gunners saw both sides play out a 1-1 draw earlier in the day and knew that an opportunity was there for them to go top.

Manager Mikel Arteta chose to start misfiring forward Kai Havertz from the bench with captain Martin Odegaard back in the squad. The German star, however, proved himself useful by popping up to score a late winner.

Gunners fans went on social media platform X to praise the performance of the Germany international, who has received a lot of stick for his below-par showings since joining the club. He has now scored twice, both in the Premier League, for the Gunners.

Here are some of the reactions from the fans.

Arsenal were lethargic for most of the match and needed Havertz to intervene off the bench to win the match at the Gtech Community Stadium. The Gunners have now picked up 30 points this season and have one more than second-place Manchester City.

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Havertz silences doubters with a goal for Arsenal

Kai Havertz was roundly criticized by fans after his performances for Arsenal in the first months of the season. The 24-year-old German joined the club from rivals Chelsea for around £65 million but failed to really settle into the club in the first months.

Arsenal started the match without him, and they were lucky to be level by the time he was introduced off the bench. Record signing Declan Rice had made a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Bryan Mbeumo in the first half to keep the match scoreless.

With 79 minutes on the clock, Arteta turned to his big-money forward to bail him out, taking off Gabriel Martinelli. Ten minutes later, he popped up at the back post to head home a cross from Bukayo Saka in emphatic style.

Havertz scored his first goal for the club from the spot against Bournemouth before adding his second today. The versatile forward will hope that this goal kick-starts his career at the Emirates properly, and helps him reach his full potential at the club.