"Nothing personal" - Unai Emery explains why he didn't shake hands with any of Arsenal's coaching staff
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has explained that he didn't shake hands with Arsenal's coaching staff due to Mikel Arteta's absence in their clash on Saturday, December 9.
The Villans beat the Gunners 1-0 at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday. John McGinn's seventh-minute goal secured a big three points for Aston Villa, who are now just a point behind second-placed Arsenal in the table.
Gunners manager Arteta was banned from the sidelines for the clash after picking up three yellow cards this season. After the game, Emery didn't shake hands with any of the visitors' coaching staff and went to celebrate with his players. He explained the reason behind it, saying (via Mirror):
"No, because Arteta wasn't on the bench. I gave my hand to the workers inside because they were there when I was there, but only with the people I coached with and who worked with me.
"There was nothing personal. It was because it wasn't Arteta. I respect a lot Arsenal and Arteta. I respect a lot the workers there. I have nothing negative against them."
Emery managed the north London side between 2018 and 2019 following Arsene Wenger's departure. He won 43, lost 20, and drew 15 games across competitions during his tenure at the club. He was sacked in 2019 and replaced by Arteta.
Mikel Arteta reflects on Arsenal's defeat to Aston Villa
The Gunners suffered only their second Premier League defeat of the season in 16 games against Aston Villa on Saturday. The Villans, who came into the game on the back of a dominant win over Manchester City, started brilliantly.
John McGinn finished off an excellent move by the hosts after being found in the box by Leon Bailey. Arsenal did put the ball in the net in the 90th minute but it was chalked off by the referee for a handball by Kai Havertz.
Mikel Arteta expressed his disappointment at the defeat in his post-match press conference, saying (via Arsenal.com):
"I'm very disappointed with the result, especially with the way we played, I think we deserved much more than what we had, I thought we were the better team, I haven’t seen a team do what we did to Villa today since we were here in February.
"It wasn’t enough to win it because we lacked the accuracy in the opponent's box to put the ball in the back of the net with the amount of situations that we generated."
Arsenal are second in the table, one point behind Liverpool, who beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to reach the summit. The north London side will next face PSV Eindhoven away in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, December 12.