15 February 2023 , 21:16
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A furious Kevin De Bruyne angrily shoved Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after the Spaniard tried to kick the ball away from him during the meeting of the Premier League's top two on Wednesday night.
Manchester City had won a throw after Gabriel put the ball out of play around five minutes into the second-half. With the scores level, Arteta attempted to slow down City's desire to restart the game quickly as the ball rolled near him. De Bruyne jogged over to get the ball, but Arteta shielded it with his body and flicked it away. City star De Bruyne went to kick the ball but caught Arteta's shins instead and then shoved Arteta away in frustration.
As he then walked back with the ball, De Bruyne put his finger in Arteta's face as a way to tell off the Arsenal boss. Granit Xhaka then ran over to remonstrate with De Bruyne for pushing his manager.
Fourth official Darren England also moved in to calm things down, with two further members of Arsenal's backroom staff coming over. Scotland legend Ally McCoist though believed that De Bruyne's push on Arteta was unfair.
"I know what he was up to Arteta, but I'm not sure it deserved that reaction," he told Amazon Prime.
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"But he was being a bit naughty. Watch, he takes it away there and then gets a little shove for his efforts. But do you know what it's done? It's got the crowd going."
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Kevin De Bruyne angrily pushed Mikel Arteta during a flashpoint in Arsenal's clash with Manchester City (Amazon Prime)
Arteta had been attempting to timewaste (Amazon Prime)
De Bruyne then wagged his finger at Arteta in anger (Amazon Prime)De Bruyne had earlier put City ahead with a wonderful lifted finish over Aaron Ramsdale after Takehiro Tomiyasu's ill-thought backpass. Buakyo Saka equalised for the Gunners from the penalty spot before Jack Grealish put City back in-front 20 minutes from time and Erling Haaland added a third late on.
Newcastle legend Alan Shearer was full of praise for De Bruyne after his stunning goal. And he hailed the Belgian midfielder as "world-class" after being left in awe by the quality of his finish.
"I think they’ve responded really well, Arsenal, first of all from missing a big chance and then conceding the goal in the way they did. It’s a huge error, he [Tomiyasu] doesn’t need anyone to tell him that, but what about the finish - how cool was he?" he told Amazon Prime.
"He reads it really well, you’ve got to smell the danger, you’ve got to think he’s going to make an error here and gamble, and that’s what good players do and he got his reward in the end for doing that.
"Huge error from Tomiyasu, I’m not sure if he sees him there but if he doesn’t he should do. Poor back pass, but that is a very, very difficult finish to complete. His left foot, the way he finishes.
"His awareness of where he is, where the goalkeeper is, to get the direction on it like that, wow. What a finish that is. It was just world class. The one player you don’t want it to fall to on the pitch is Kevin de Bruyne."