Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta have reacted to the brawl that broke out between Kyle Walker, Erling Haaland and Arsenal coaching staff Nicoas Jover after the heated Premier League clash on Sunday, October 8, 2023
Nicolas Jover, Arsenal set-piece coach, wanted to have a friendly handshake with Kyle Walker and other Manchester City players as they were exiting the pitch to the tunnel after the match.
Walker just got riled up at the gesture, refused the handshake and confronted Jover immediately.
His teammate, Erling Haaland also waded into the clash, supporting Kyle Walker.
Tempers were flared further as some Arsenal players and other coaching staff rushed to the scene to separate the quarrelling parties.
Bukayo Saka was seen making an attempt to defend Jover against Kyle Walker further deepening tensions.
However, the clash subsequently died down immediately after many players and staff took to the scene and separated warring parties.
Pep Guardiola was asked about the ugly incident in post match press conference and he gave a wild grin before giving a candid reply but somewhat vague.
”I know what happened but I won’t say anything. They know it,” he said.
Mikel Arteta was also asked about the confrontation and he admitted to not seeing it and could not say anything about it.
Micah Richards who was covering the match for Sky Sports on the commentary box revealed that Joshua Jover wanted to have a handshake with Kyle Walker but the England defender was not cool with it.
“It looked like he was going to shake his hand, but Kyle didn’t really want to,” he said.
Kyle Walker’s furious reaction to Joshua Jover could be linked to Manchester City’s shock defeat to the Gunners at Emirates.
Manchester City were undisputed dominoes in their rivalry with Arsenal in the Premier League based on records.
Before the game, Manchester have had a 15-match winning streak against Arsenal in the Premier League.
Hence, the defeat came more of a shock to the likes of Walker and other Manchester City teammates, who furiously walked off the pitch after the game before the tunnel fracas.
Gabriel Martinelli scored the match winner that saw Arsenal finally broke the jinx against City to condemn the Premier League champions to their first back-to-back Premier League defeat since 2018.
