ARSENAL analyst Miguel Molina was SLAPPED by his Aston Villa counterpart after the Gunners’ last-gasp victory at Villa Park.
Molina was embroiled in a post-match squabble with rival analyst Victora Manas that continued into the tunnel.
ALAMYArsenal secured a last-gasp victory over Aston Villa on Saturday[/caption]
ALAMYManager Mikel Arteta celebrated wildly with his backroom staff[/caption]
AlamySunSport understands Gunners analyst Miguel Molina was slapped by his Villa counterpart following his wild celebration[/caption]
He left the Arsenal dressing room with a large red mark on his face after being slapped on the cheek by fellow Spaniard Manas, who previously worked for the Gunners during Unai Emery’s time in charge.
They clashed in the stands in the immediate aftermath of Arsenal’s stoppage-time winner, with Manas taking exception to Molina’s celebrations as they exchanged furious insults in Spanish.
Molina eventually removed himself from his seat but not before inflaming the situation by blowing kisses at his rival, who continued to rant loudly.
And Sunsport understands they clashed again in the players’ tunnel immediately after the final whistle before being pulled apart and begrudgingly agreeing to shake hands.
Arsenal kept their title hopes alive with a stunning comeback victory over a dogged and determined Villa, who they beat 4-2.
Mikel Arteta’s troops looked on course to drop points before a stoppage-time own goal from former Gunner Emi Martinez handed them the lead.
The north Londoners completed the turnaround five minutes later through Gabriel Martinelli, who tapped the ball home unchallenged after Martinez left the goal unattended in a bid to help bag an equaliser.
After the match, an elated Arteta said: “It’s been a rollercoaster and very emotional at the end.
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“I think we showed a lot of resilience, character and quality.
“The context of the game was difficult, with the performance that we had against City and getting nothing out of it.
“Then having to come here less than 72 hours later and finding ourselves 1-0 down after five minutes.
“We had to play the next 90 minutes and we had some difficulties in certain periods during the first half. Individually we brought the level right down and stopped doing the simple things right.
“At half-time, we said we had to raise the individual level, we had to look each other in the face and we had to do much more if we wanted to come out and win this game.
“We altered one or two things and then we produced a very strong performance and probably should have won it earlier than we did.
“At some stage, you’re going to have to win games in the 94th minute or the 96th minute.
“You’re going to have to score from set-plays, you’re going to have to score when you’re down to 10 men.
“It’s about winning in any context. We always talk about that and today we had a really difficult context, especially with what happened after five minutes.
“The team showed a lot of emotional qualities which are needed to be up there. I’m really happy with that.”
Arsenal will be back in action next Saturday, travelling to the King Power Stadium to take on Leicester.