Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko lost his cool with his former Manchester City teammates at Etihad after Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup following a 1-0 loss to City.
In what could be described as a battle between a former master and a successful apprentice, Arsenal battled Manchester City for a place in the next round of the FA Cup.
The match was of utmost significance for the two sides. Mikel Arteta has now successfully established Arsenal as a potential Premier League title contender but Manchester City are still hopeful of catching up despite being five points adrift and playing a game more than the Gunners.
Hence, it was not surprising when tempers flared on-pitch with former Manchester City star Oleksandr Zinchenko losing his cool against his former teammates.
Going into the game, Manchester City, who are the defending Champions were hoping to unnerve the Gunners and reassert their potency in defending the title they won last year.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta owes his former boss Pep Guardiola a two-leg Premier League tie that will ultimately decide the destination of the 2022/23 Premier League trophy.
Mikel Arteta made shock changes to the squad that saw off Manchester United in the Premier League at the Emirates. Leandro Trossard started instead of Gabriel Martinelli, while Tomiyasu and Turner were also brought into the starting lineup.
Arteta successfully went shoulder-to-shoulder with his former boss, holding off Erling Haaland, and using Leandro Trossard to threaten the City backline from the left flank.
However, Pep Guardiola still held the bragging rights over his former apprentice. They were deadly upfront. Julian Alvarez hit the bar, while Erling Haaland nearly capitalize on Turner’s mistake to put City ahead before his back-kick was cleared by Tomiyasu.
The first half ended goalless, but City finally took the lead in the 64th minute with Nathan Ake’s right-footed strike.
The goal was enough to dump out Arsenal from the FA Cup, and it appears Oleksandr Zinchenko could not easily come to terms with the defeat.
Zinchenko returned to Etihad for the first time after his six years with the club in the FA Cup tie.
The Ukrainian come on as a substitute in the game and could not help Arsenal get one over City.
He picked up a late booking for a foul and was lucky to escape a second yellow for a challenge on Bernardo Silva.
After the final whistle, he was surrounded by his former teammates after he appeared to have lost his temper.
Joao Cancelo grabbed him and he tried to break free while trying to speak with Riyad Mahrez.
Zinchenko’s emotions could be understood in the context of the building rivalry between City and Arsenal in the buildup to the 2022/23 Premier League title race.
However, the Ukraine international will have a golden chance to harvest a pound of flesh against his former team when Arsenal host City at Emirates in a crunch Premier League tie in mid-February.