Unai Emery: No Arteta, no handshakes

The Aston Villa manager insisted that there are no issues between him and his former side, Arsenal, even after refusing to shake hands with any of the coaching staff following a sensational 1-0 home win yesterday.

The Spaniard explained that he didn’t shake hands because his fellow countryman, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, wasn’t present on the touchline due to a ban following a recent charge from the FA.

Emery, who previously spent 18 months coaching Arsenal before being sacked in 2019 after a string of poor performances, orchestrated a narrow win against his former side, with captain Jon McGinn scoring the only goal in the game.

The win extended their winning streak to 15 at home, setting a new record for the club. Villa is now comfortably in third place in the league, one point behind Arsenal and only two behind league leaders Liverpool.

In interviews after the game, both Emery and McGinn played down the title talk, insisting that it is only matchweek 16, and there is still a long way to go.

Next up for Villa is a match against Brentford on December 17th at the Brentford Community Stadium.