Mikel Arteta has warned his Arsenal players to cut out their on-pitch taunts after they humiliated Manchester City in a 5-1 thrashing. The two teams met in a fiesty Premier League clash on Sunday evening and the Gunners came out on top. It was a massive result for Arteta’s men as it ensured they kept up pace with Liverpool at the top of the table.
The win was even sweeter, though, as they demolished City in the pair’s first meeting since their 2-2 draw earlier this season that saw chaos erupt after the final whistle. After John Stones bagged a 98th minute equaliser, players from each side clashed. Erling Haaland was captured on camera feuding with Gabriel and Myles Lewis-Skelly before he told Arteta to ‘stay humble’.
Those moments came back to haunt the striker as the Arsenal players took joy in taunting him during the match on Sunday. First, Gabriel made sure to celebrate in his face after the Gunners took the lead in the first-half. They weren’t finished yet, though, and Lewis-Skelly mocked the forward by replicating his signature celebration when he bagged Arsenal’s third goal of the day. It was sweet revenge for the club, but Arteta isn’t happy with how they behaved.
While beating City 5-1 is an incredible achievement for Arteta and he was thrilled with the result, he wasn’t so impressed with the way his side conducted themselves on the pitch and revealed as much. According to the Times, the Spaniard was unimpressed and revealed his players are well aware of that. He said:
“There’s nothing that I want to discuss about that, [it’s] down to the players, but they know my view on it. We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens … it’s part of the game on the pitch. We’ve been in football a long time — just leave it, there’s nothing there to do.”
With City out of the way, Arsenal’s attention will turn to Liverpool and trying to catch up to Arne Slot’s table-topping Reds.
