Unai Emery insisted he was ‘waiting’ for Mikel Arteta despite appearing to snub a post-match handshake with the Arsenal boss after their win over Aston Villa.
The Gunners moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League once again after a superb second-half performance in north London on Tuesday night.
Villa could have moved level on points with the league leaders with a victory with the game goalless at the break.
The hosts sprang into action in the second-half however, with the returning Gabriel Magalhaes breaking the deadlock three minutes into the second-half.
Goals from Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus opened up a commanding lead with Ollie Watkins grabbing a late consolation goal in injury time.
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After the final whistle, Arteta embraced his backroom staff before walking across the touchline towards the Villa dugout seemingly to find Emery.
The Villa boss was nowhere to be found, however, with Arteta left looking slightly bewildered.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Emery, who had 18 months in charge at the Emirates following Arsene Wenger’s departure, insisted he had been waiting for Arteta before ‘deciding to go inside’.
‘After finishing the match my routine is always quick, shake hands… I was waiting. Of course [Arteta] was happy. But he was with the coaches and I can’t wait for him.
‘I was there but no problem. I went to my dressing room.’
Arteta played down the incident in his post-match presser, telling reporters: ‘It’s not an issue. Sometimes we are in this sort of moment, so it’s not an issue for me.’
Villa had been on a run of 11 straight victories before tonight’s game, a sequence of victories that included one over Arsenal in the reverse fixture earlier this month.
They remain in third with Manchester City seeking to keep pace with Arsenal when they take on Sunderland on Thursday night.