‘Fat Rat’—Bruno Guimaraes Sends Scathing Message After First Arsenal Goal

Arsenal midfielder Bruno Guimarães was all too happy to bite back at taunts from Sunderland fans after scoring his first goal for the Gunners on Saturday.

Guimarães opened the scoring of Saturday’s 2–0 win over Sunderland shortly before the hour mark and used his celebration to make a number of gestures towards the Black Cats fans, including cupping his ears for a chorus of boos and pinching his fingers to suggest Sunderland are a small club.

Those images then featured in an Instagram post after the final whistle as Guimarães also referred to prematch taunts from Sunderland fans who branded the midfielder, formerly of fierce rivals Newcastle United, a “fat rat” as he entered the stadium.

“The fat rat wishes you a nice weekend,” Guimarães wrote alongside a reference to his small club jibe: “They know what they are.”

Arteta: A Special Game for Guimarães

Bruno Guimarães — Guimarães changed the game for Mikel Arteta. | Joe Prior/Visionhaus/Getty Images

An away trip to Sunderland is, with no disrespect, hardly the most significant fixture on the calendar of any Arsenal player, but it is a game which has meant so much to Guimarães over the years during his time at Newcastle.

Last season, Sunderland did the double over Newcastle. Guimarães played the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 defeat at the Stadium of Light in December 2025 before missing the return fixture, a 2–1 loss, through injury. As Newcastle captain last season, those results will have hit the Brazilian hard.

Finally enjoying a taste of revenge, Guimarães’s ability to perform in such a hostile environment drew particular praise from manager Mikel Arteta.

“Unbelievable, but again the personality that he has, and this was a special game for him as well, what it means for him,” Arteta reflected after the final whistle.

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“How he grabs the game, making decisions that he’s made ... the goal was incredible, and the assist as well to Bukayo [Saka] to put him through. I’m really impressed with him.”

The next step for Guimarães is to force his way into Arsenal’s starting lineup. Declan Rice is a certain starter at the base of midfield, but the spot alongside him is being contested by Guimarães, Martín Zubimendi, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Mikel Merino.

“They all are [pushing for starts], to be fair,” Arteta confessed. “We have had a really tough week, as I said, and they’ve all played and been really important—and that’s what we're going to need as well, every three days to maintain this level, otherwise it’s impossible.”

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