Unai Emery explains Arsenal handshake snub after Aston Villa’s victory

After Aston Villa defeated the Gunners 1-0 on Saturday night, Unai Emery insisted that his decision to refuse to shake hands with Arsenal’s staff was “nothing personal.”

At Villa Park, the north Londoners suffered just their second loss of the year, with John McGinn’s swivel-and-hit in the seventh minute ultimately proving to be the game-winning play.

 

Arsenal controlled the game for extended periods, especially after the break, but were unable to find a way past Villa, who are now only one point behind the Gunners in third place in the Premier League standings.

 

However, there was an odd moment at the end of the game when Emery skipped the traditional handshake and ran to celebrate with Villa fans close to the touchline.

When questioned about it at his post-match press conference, the former Arsenal manager played down his emotions and said that Mikel Arteta’s touchline ban had forced his countryman to watch the game from the stands.

When asked if he had spoken to any members of Arsenal’s staff during full time about the ill-fated handshake, Emery replied, “No, because Arteta wasn’t on the bench.”

 

I extended my hand to the employees since they were present during my visit,

but only to the individuals I worked and coached.

‘There was nothing personal. It was because it wasn’t Arteta. I respect a lot

Arsenal and Arteta. I respect a lot the workers there. I have nothing negative against them.’

 

In Arteta’s absence, assistant Albert Stuivenberg was in the dugout with

information relayed down to him from the directors box via coach Carlos Cuesta, who had an earpiece.

 

On his side’s performance against Arsenal, Emery said: ‘I’m very happy. It

was a tough match and we were tired, but we started the game well. They were

imposing their position on the pitch, but our goalkeeper was amazing.

We made an effort to hold onto possession and defend, but we fell short. We participated, and in a challenging week, those three points were fantastic. In addition to maintaining balance, we must be happy.

 

“I will speak again when we are in game 30 or 32 and if we are in the same position as now then maybe I can speak about it,” he said when asked if Villa is a title contender.

 

We are not a contender right now because it is only game sixteen. We have

to work to maintain our position in [the top four]. We are not winning games

[away from home] the way we are here, so it is challenging.

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