Mikel Arteta was at the centre of the action on the touchline once again as Kevin De Bruyne took issue with the Spaniard's actions during Arsenal's clash against Manchester City. The Belgian playmaker had opened the scoring for the champions after Takehiro Tomiyasu made an error in defence.
Bukayo Saka equalised from the penalty spot before half-time after Ederson had fouled Eddie Nketiah inside the penalty box. Erling Haaland thought he had won City a penalty but he was deemed to be offside as VAR made the correct decision on this occasion.
The Norwegian striker was involved in the action minutes later as he broke forward, playing the ball to Ilkay Gundogan - who in turn fed Jack Grealish through to slot home past Aaron Ramsdale. At first glance it looked like a poor goal to concede, but the ball took a horrible deflection off of Tomiyasu's boot to take the ball past Ramsdale into the back of the Arsenal net to make it 2-1.
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Moments before City found a second goal, Arteta was involved in a touchline scuffle with De Bruyne. The Arsenal boss seemed to shield the ball as it rolled off the pitch and kick it away from the City midfielder who reacted by pushing Arteta and pointing at him as if to warn the Gunners manager not to do it again.
Arteta and De Bruyne enjoyed a successful time together at the Etihad Stadium but there was no love lost between them tonight. The pressure of the title race is growing with each passing week and it's clear that any edge either side can get over one another may prove to be beneficial.
Tensions were high as Anthony Taylor intervened without awarding a booking to Arteta or De Bruyne. Despite this incident, it seems that Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland are not letting the occasion stop their friendship as the two Norwegian teammates were seen sharing a laugh at half-time.
Odegaard may not be laughing come the end of the match though as he watched Haaland score a third goal for City late in the second half to put the visitors in a commanding position and top of the table on goal difference.
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