Thomas Partey dedicated his goal in Arsenal’s thrilling 3-1 comeback victory over Bournemouth to his former Ghana teammate following his tragic death in the Turkey earthquake last month.
Atsu was found dead 12 days after the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and parts of northern Syria on Friday 6.
During his career the former Newcastle United winger made 64 appearances for the Black Stars of Ghana and played in several matches alongside Partey in the national team colours.
Last week his mortal remains were brought back to Ghana and today the one week observation was held.
Whether by faith or sheer coincidence, the Arsenal midfielder scored and paid tribute to Atsu today at the Emirates to help the Gunners overturn a two goal deficit to extend their lead at the summit of the Premier League table to five points.
Bournemouth took the lead after just 9 seconds through Philip Billing before Marcos Sensei doubled the lead in the 57th minute.
Mikel Arteta’s side fought back in style and won the game 3-2 with Partey’s goal setting the tone for the comeback while Ben White drew level before Reiss Nelson firing home a last gasp winner in added time.
Partey took off his shirt at full-time to reveal a vest with the text ‘Rest well Christian Artu’ imprinted on it.