Arsenal suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on Saturday, and Mikel Arteta’s reaction was telling. The Spaniard, who is in the thick of a Premier League title race with Liverpool, Manchester City and perhaps even Villa themselves, opted not to stay in his seat until the final whistle and stormed off back to the dressing room ahead of schedule.
The Gunners had the opportunity to capitalise in the West Midlands after bagging a last-minute winner against Luton Town in midweek and watching City fall to a 1-0 defeat at Villa Park.
Arteta was forced to watch on from the stands, having picked up his third yellow card of the campaign at Kenilworth Road. And it wasn’t an easy watch for the manager, with John McGinn’s early strike putting Arsenal on the back foot from the word go.
The visitors probed throughout the second half without finding an answer; even if it looked as though Kai Havertz, who was subsequently penalised for a handball, had scrambled home an equaliser in the 90th minute.
As full time approached, Arteta didn’t even wait to hear the referee’s final whistle. Instead, the 41-year-old hopped out of his seat and headed straight for the door.
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