Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has no qualms about young defender Miles Lewis-Skelly pouring fuel on the fire of bitter rivalry with Manchester City, as long as it was done in the right manner and in the right place.
The issue between the Gunners and City has continued for the past two years as they have been competing for the championship until the situation ripened at the beginning of the season when the match ended in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
At the end of the match, Erling Braut Haaland, the แทงบอล UFABET ราคาดีที่สุด ไม่มีขั้นต่ำ home team’s striker, taunted Mikel Arteta, the ‘Gunners’ manager, for being arrogant – be a little more humble –
That’s because City see the 42-year-old as a former assistant to Josep Guardiola who has gone on to become a big man and has copied many of his footballing styles from his teacher.
While Arsenal saw the Norwegian’s behavior as disrespectful to his elders, it became a grudge, and when Lewis-Skelly scored, they intentionally copied Haaland’s celebration to annoy him back, winning the home game 5-1.
The incident has been criticize in many ways. Some see it as a colorful aspect of the game, while others see it as inappropriate because it was intend to provoke and may lead to conflict or violence between fans of both sides.
Arteta did not intend to blame his 18-year-old teammate, saying that he was free to celebrate and mock his opponents, as long as it was in the right place and not in the wrong place.
“Playing as a home team or an away team, the context is very different,” he said at the press conference ahead of the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle (February 5).
“We talked about what happened and we have to understand that each stadium is different, how they behave, how they celebrate when they score, and what they shouldn’t do.”
“So it’s a very different attitude when you go up north to play than when you play at home in London.”
“This is part of the context of football.”
The two teams have not met in domestic matches this season, but there is still the Champions League . If Man City can advance to the last 16 and the draw results are good, they could meet Arsenal in the quarterfinals at the earliest.