FA deliver verdict on Arsenal v Man City bust-up which left Haaland furious

09 October 2023 , 13:45

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FA deliver verdict on Arsenal v Man City bust-up which left Haaland furious

The FA will take no action against either Arsenal or Manchester City after players and staff became involved in a heated exchange after the Gunners' 1-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

City full-back Kyle Walker - who was his side's captain on the day - became involved in an altercation with the Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, who used to work on the staff at City when Mikel Arteta was assistant manager to Pep Guardiola.

Walker was seen to dismiss Jover several times as he approached him, with the England defender initially declining the German's offer of a handshake before turning to confront him.

A furious Erling Haaland intervenes at this point, with Arsenal staff and more City players eventually involved as emotions boiled over in the aftermath of the game, which was won courtesy of a late deflected effort from Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli.

The FA are said to be satisfied that no action needs to be taken against Walker, Haaland or any other City player, or Jover or any member of the Arsenal staff, due to how quickly the ugly incident was resolved.

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City boss Guardiola remained largely tight-lipped on the incident after the match, saying only: "I know what happened, but I won't say anything. They (Arsenal) know it."

Jover and the Arsenal staff clashed with Walker, Haaland and more City players

Sky Sports pundits Micah Richards and Theo Walcott were asked for their take on the incident by the broadcaster, with ex-City defender Richards saying: "It looked like he (Jover) was going to shake his hand, but Kyle didn't really want to. We're in October, if we were in March or April I could understand the frustration, they probably don't want to go to Arsenal and lose but it's not the end of the world."

Ex-Arsenal forward Walcott added: "We always look at City and they've been very professional and not reacting in situations. And that's where I feel like a nerve's been hit here, and he's caught it there definitely."

Arsenal boss Arteta had nothing to say on the clash, and instead focused on the intensity of his team and their fans contributing to the win. "The crowd wants you to go and go and go, and it’s what the crowd they do, the crowd do that and we don’t go, and we have to manage that," he said.

"We have to understand emotionally it’s not easy, it’s not easy to chase 15, 20 passes and you have to be able to do that and then have the courage to play. You don’t want to play against this team that just gives the ball to them every single time and I thought the players were excellent."

Mark Jones