Unai Emery attributed the chilly December weather as his reason for bypassing the traditional post-match handshake with Mikel Arteta following Arsenal's comprehensive 4-1 triumph over Aston Villa at the Emirates on Tuesday evening.
The Villa manager faced criticism after appearing to glance disapprovingly at his counterpart before heading straight for the tunnel as Arteta celebrated with his coaching staff.
"It is simple," Emery stated in his press conference.
"I was waiting, I was waiting. He was happy, of course he was happy. He was with his coaches. And I decided to go inside. But for me it is no problem."
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He added to Sky Sports: "If he is not doing the same rule, I can't wait it was cold."
Emery's explanation was met with widespread ridicule from Arsenal supporters on social media.
"Brother was standing in the cold for 90 minutes but waiting for 10 seconds wasn't possible lol," one fan wrote on X.
Unai Emery cut a frustrated figure during Aston Villa's emphatic defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium
|GETTY
Another supporter described the press conference as difficult to watch, posting: "That was a hard watch. I cringed. Why can't he just be honest? He could've just said that emotions got the better of him. I'd understand that. This? Spineless. So cringe."
A third dismissed the Villa manager's reasoning as "rubbish" and suggested "he would've been sat there sipping tea if his side had won".
Arteta, however, took a far more relaxed view of the incident, brushing off the snub without apparent concern.
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Five facts about the Premier League | PA/GETTY/REUTERS/GBNEWS"You saw it, but it's OK," the Arsenal manager said after the match.
"It's all good. That is part of the game and it's not unusual at all."
The Spaniard, who succeeded Emery at the Emirates in December 2019, was understandably in buoyant mood following his side's emphatic second-half display against a Villa team that had arrived in north London on an 11-match winning run.
"I'm so happy," Arteta declared.
"We play every three days, and today we played an opponent that has won 11 games in a row. They are a superb team, very difficult to play against."
The victory represented a significant statement in Arsenal's pursuit of a first league title in over two decades.
Arsenal were outstanding as they thumped Aston Villa 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium | GETTYGabriel Magalhaes, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all found the net as the Gunners scored four times after the interval, with Ollie Watkins grabbing a late consolation for the visitors.
Arteta praised his players' clinical finishing, noting they had been wasteful in recent fixtures.
"We competed for everything much better. The timing was better and the individual goals were fulfilled in an extraordinary way, and we were so efficient in everything that we did," he explained.
The result moves Arsenal six points clear of Villa, who remain third, and five ahead of Manchester City.