Arsenal executive vice-chair Tim Lewis refused to shake hands with his Manchester City counterparts as the drama from Sunday’s tense 2-2 draw spilled into the director’s box, according to reports.
The Gunners thought they had sealed a vital three points against their Premier League title rivals at the Etihad before John Stones equalised in the 98th minute.
There were heated scenes on the pitch before and after that goal as emotions ran high and the fall-out extended all the way up in the stands to the director’s box.
That’s according to The Sun, who report that Arsenal’s executive vice-chair Lewis was so ‘enraged’ by Stones’ late goal that he dramatically stormed out.
Lewis did not return to the director’s box to shake hands with his City counterparts – which is customary – and left fellow members of the Arsenal board apologising for his absence.
The drama at executive level is just the latest indication of the growing rivalry between Arsenal and Pep Guardiola’s side.
City midfielder Bernardo Silva was quizzed about the rivalry after Sunday’s showdown and said: ‘The difference [between Arsenal and Liverpool]? I don’t know.
‘Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven’t. Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven’t. Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games.
‘So by this perspective, the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool. So yes, maybe a different rivalry.
‘There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately.
‘We’re not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I’m happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I’m glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match.
‘The referee allowed a sequence of time-wasting events. The thing that bothers me the most is having a lot of meetings with the FA at the beginning of each season.
‘They tell us they will control this kind of situation and will stop them, but at the end it doesn’t have any worth. They say a lot but nothing happens.’
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