Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic was not happy after he was subbed during a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. The Serbian midfielder could be seen demonstrating with a section of the home support as the north Londoners asserted themselves at the front of the race for fourth again.
Nuno Tavares opened the scoring after just three minutes, arriving perfectly on time to tap into an empty net after David De Gea had saved Bukayo Saka's shot. Saka made it 2-0 before half-time from the penalty spot and Granit Xhaka extinguished any hopes of a United comeback in the second half, firing home a rocket from long-range after Bruno Fernandes had spurned a chance to equalise from a penalty of his own.
It is a result that leaves Mikel Arteta's side six points clear of the Red Devils and two ahead of fifth-place Tottenham. With the two rivals each boasting a game in hand on United, it will take a miracle to get back into the race again. It was a result that impressed the man in the Arsenal dugout too.
READ MORE: Arsenal's final five Premier League fixtures compared to Tottenham and Manchester United
"I think it was a phenomenal game for fans, for us it was a bit of a rollercoaster," Arteta told his post-match press conference. "We wanted to start the game really fast, dominate it, create issues, be really vertical and we managed to do that. We dominated big periods in the first half, we dominated, we scored two goals but that momentum when they scored left us a bit cold and we got a bit insecure to how we react, so we had a little five, 10 minute period there where we weren’t sure what to do.
"The start of the second half we didn’t start good again. We had some problems to occupy certain spaces that they are really good at and they have so much quality to exploit that. Then when they missed the penalty and we changed the shape, and then we scored the goal, that’s when I think the game got where we wanted again."
But there was plenty of anger and frustration in the United camp with the display, not least from veterans midfielder Matic. After being substituted in the second half, the 33-year-old midfielder was taunted by nearby Arsenal fans. Instead of just taking it on the chin, however, Matic bit back appearing to reference the three Premier League titles he has won with Chelsea and that the Gunners had won zero in the same time.
It was a moment his former manager Jose Mourinho would have been proud of, having famously demanded respect in a press conference for the three titles won as Chelsea manager, before storming out.
