Gabriel Magalhaes reveals why he mocked Amadou Onana after Arsenal beat Aston Villa

Gabriel Magalhaes says Arsenal were ‘spurred on’ by Aston Villa’s celebrations from their previous meeting and he couldn’t resist poking ‘fun’ at Amadou Onana with a playful dig after the 4-1 win.

Arsenal went five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a statement victory in Tuesday night’s high-stakes clash between the two title challengers.

After an entertaining albeit goalless first half, it was Gabriel’s contribution that brought the game to life, with the Brazilian outmuscling Emiliano Martinez in the air to direct the ball home from Bukayo Saka’s 48th-minute corner.

The Gunners refused to take their foot off the gas after making the breakthrough and were rewarded for their efforts just four minutes later as Martin Zubimendi finished cooly having been put through by Martin Odegaard.

A pair of superb finishes from Leandro Trossard and second-half substitute Gabriel Jesus further increased the deficit and Ollie Watkins’ late strike proved nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

The result leaves Unai Emery’s men six points adrift of Arsenal after 19 games, with second-placed Manchester City still to play Sunderland on New Year’s Day.

It was only three-and-a-half weeks ago that an Emiliano Buendia-inspired Villa landed a hefty blow in this year’s title race with victory in the sides’ reverse fixture.

Emery’s squad were seen celebrating wildly that day at Villa Park, images that were stored in the minds of Arsenal’s players to be used as added motivation entering into their latest showdown.

Arsenal defender Gabriel even took the opportunity to mock Onana after Tuesday’s win (video below), imitating the celebration the Belgian has been performing in which he gestures zipping away three points in his pocket.

‘Yes, like I told you, we’ll get the three points, no? Those sort of things spur you on,’ Gabriel explained shortly after the final whistle.

‘It’s good fun. It’s fun for them, it’s fun for us as well. Like I said, we’ll get the three points.

‘It was not to get them back or to get Onana back. I know he’s a good guy.

‘So, yes, no fighting, nothing. Just something to celebrate.’

Villa, who were riding an impressive 11-match winning streak heading into the contest, will look to bounce back when they play host to Nottingham Forest in three days’ time.

Facing the media after his side’s setback, a visibly disappointed Emery explained why he Arteta had not shaken hands at the full-time whistle.

Asked about the apparent snub, the Spaniard told reporters: ‘Yes, but it’s simple. You can watch. After [finishing] the match, always my routine is quick, shake hands and go with my coaches, with my players, or go to the dressing room.

‘And I was waiting, I was waiting. Of course, he was happy and he was with his coaches and I decided to go inside. But for me, no problem.’

The Villa head coach, who previously managed Arsenal from 2018 to 2019, said he was ‘so proud’ of his players for their application and togetherness across the season.

‘So, so proud of everything we are doing,’ he added.

‘So, so proud with the players, how we achieved, until now, 39 points, and how we are being ambitious and as well realistic.

‘We are realising every match we are playing, how we can exploit our potential and how we can get and set our target each match.

‘Today we lost. We did fantastic in the first half. The second half, we conceded one goal, we got injured with Amadou Onana and of course in the middle we had not the structure we needed to keep strongly in the middle.

‘But we competed fantastic, and we conceded the second goal and then it was more difficult. We didn’t give up.’

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