Gabriel Magalhaes and Man United defender Harry Maguire‘s post-match bust-up was sparked after the Arsenal star refused to shake the Englishman’s hand, new footage has revealed.
Maguire approached the visibly dejected Brazilian after the referee blew the full-time whistle to signal United’s dramatic 3-2 victory at the Emirates on Sunday.
But Gabriel was in no mood for pleasantries after his side squandered the chance to go seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, and opted to blank Maguire’s advances.
The pair then appeared to exchange heated words on the pitch, to the extent that United goalkeeper Senne Lammens had to run to the scene and separate the two centre-backs.
Maguire, seemingly unimpressed by his counterpart’s behaviour, gave Gabriel a shove before the Belgian stopper steered the Gunners defender away from the altercation.
United’s Noussair Mazraoui and Arsenal forwards Victor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke also watched on as tensions threatened to boil over.
Gabriel Magalhaes refused to shake Harry Maguire’s hand after Arsenal’s defeat to Man United
The defenders then appeared to share a heated confrontation shortly after the full-time whistle
It seems the Brazilian may have been unimpressed by Maguire’s handling of him as the match approached its final exchanges.
In the sixth-minute of added time, the Gunners sent the ball long towards their 6ft 3in goal machine defender in search of an equaliser.
But instead of nodding the header goalbound, the visibly incensed Gabriel was lifted up by Maguire and the danger was cleared by United.
The 28-year-old had to be led off the pitch after full-time by his Arsenal staff and United players as the referee sought to end the confrontation.
Gabriel’s side went into the tie four points clear of Man City in second place, and with a game in hand had the chance to extend their lead as they chase a first Premier League title since 2004.
But they found themselves 1-0 down at half time and, despite clawing back twice in the tie, were downed by Matheus Cunha’s 87th-minute winner.
Maguire appeared to lift Gabriel up in the closing exchanges of the game at the Emirates
The Brazilian defender was visibly incensed by the incident in the sixth-minute of added time
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira was critical of his old side’s ‘mental strength’ after they fell to their third defeat in the league this season.
And Gunners boss Mikel Arteta responded on Sunday: ‘That’s fine. We accept every opinion when it comes and where it’s coming from, and they will have the right reasons to say.
‘At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to matchday. We were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren’t that good.
‘I don’t know if it was mental because of how much they play, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time and that was the difference.’
